Honeywell Technologies reveals gaps in OT cyber protection across industries

Based on a survey of more than 600 global industrial cyber security leaders, the report states that 88% of those leaders described their OT cyber security programmes as mature, while only 21% reported having a complete inventory of their OT assets.

It emerges that organisations have experienced an average of 16.2 hours of downtime as a direct result of their most significant cyber security incidents, resulting in losses of up to £375,000 per hour.

Additionally, 99% of respondents expect Artificial Intelligence to affect OT security within the next two-to-three years, while just 23% have reported using autonomous or agentic operation for threat detection.

Connected systems

“As cyber threats increasingly impact physical operations,” commented Jim Masso, president and CEO of Honeywell Technologies Process Automation, “resilience depends on extending cyber security across every connected system that supports uptime and business continuity. Organisations can no longer afford to have this visibility gap.”

Despite widespread confidence in cyber security programmes, companies still show significant gaps in visibility across operational environments. Just 33% of those organisations surveyed have fully integrated OT into a centralised Security Operations Centre, while only 20% continuously monitor connected Internet of Things devices such as cameras and sensors.

The survey has also revealed several significant threat findings by industry sector. These are as follows:

Energy and utilities

91% of energy and utilities sector respondents reported experiencing a significant OT cyber security incident in the past 12 months 

Maritime

87% of maritime respondents reported experiencing a significant OT cyber security incident in the past 12 months 

Oil and gas

54% of oil and gas sector respondents reported experiencing a significant OT cyber security incident in the past 12 months 

Healthcare

Only 19% of healthcare sector respondents suggest that facility and building systems are fully integrated into cyber security monitoring and protection

Stronger visibility 

The survey’s findings suggest that organisations with stronger visibility are four times better positioned to identify threats, respond to incidents and restore operations on a faster basis. Respondents indicated that cyber incidents are no longer viewed solely as technology events, but operational issues that can affect employee safety, customer service and production continuity.

As stated, the report is based on a survey of 600-plus cyber security risk, compliance and operations leaders across critical infrastructure sectors (including energy, oil and gas, healthcare, maritime and manufacturing) with participation across the the EMEA region, the Americas and APAC.

*Read the full report online by visiting www.honeywell.com