Insights

Investment in OT Cybersecurity has grown significantly over the last decade, resulting in leading asset owners significantly improving their cybersecurity posture. Nevertheless, more is required to balance the benefits of digitalisation with the cyber risk. Westlands Advisory’s research into trends impacting cybersecurity posture concludes that growing digitalisation and security incidents are not currently being matched by investment in cybersecurity. Furthermore, the research highlights that regulation to 2023 has had a low impact on improving the OT cybersecurity posture across most process and manufacturing industries.

As cyber threats evolve and intensify, organisations are increasingly exposed to new risks. Staying on top of the intelligence reporting is a challenge. This report is intended for executives that do not have the time, nor the need, to read over 20 cyber threat intelligence reports. WA has done that for you and summarised the key actions.

Regulation related to sustainability and a focus on reducing energy costs is driving increased investment in the digital transformation of buildings and a focus on cybersecurity. Although demand for buildings OT cybersecurity is increasing, it is starting from a low base, highlighting the industry's current underdeveloped cybersecurity maturity and the growing recognition of the need to address vulnerabilities. The journey to improved resilience is not straightforward but building owners can take modular steps and this starts with identifying assets and understanding risk.

On April 26th Darktrace announced that it was being acquired by Thoma Bravo, taking it private again after close to four years as a publicly traded company. There are precedents and striking similarities with Sophos and Mimecast’s return to private ownership.

Stand Alone (SA) 5G networks accelerate IoT investment due to improved performance and availability. With most of the world still reliant on Non Stand Alone (NSA) 5G networks, WA anticipates increased expenditure on IoT infrastructure and applications as SA networks grow, and a corresponding rise in cybersecurity.

WA visited EY's OT Cybersecurity Lab in Warsaw to understand how dedicated off-site facilities can help asset owners design and implement security programs.

The acquisition is a significant strategic move by Honeywell to expand their OT cybersecurity capabilities.

During periods of high investment in plant automation and digital transformation, Security Leaders should transition to a platform approach to cybersecurity to achieve unified visibility across their assets, and to implement and manage security policies and procedures across OT environments.

Asset owners investing in digitalisation require partners with deep knowledge of OT networks, security skills and change management expertise.