Mining sector cyberattacks linked to third-party supplier access in 76% of cases – report

 

The mining and materials sector experienced a wide swath of operational impacts due to cyberattacks this year with respondents citing loss of customer or partner relationships (30%), public safety (28%), and production shutdown (26%) as the most common, a new report released Thursday by cybersecurity company Claroty: Global State of CPS Security 2024: Mining & Materials found. 

 

Growing challenges cybersecurity leaders in the mining and materials sector faced in 2024 were particularly in safeguarding cyber-physical systems (CPS) such as operational technology (OT), IoT, and building management systems (BMS).  

 

Claroty commissioned an independent global survey of 1,100 information security, OT engineering, clinical & biomedical engineering, and facilities management and plant operations professionals about the business impacts of cyberattacks on their organizations in the past 12 months.

Financial impacts

 

Frequent and disruptive cyberattacks resulted in significant financial costs and operational disruptions, delays in service delivery, data loss, and manipulations with far-reaching consequences for public safety and national and economic security.

 

Nearly 70% of respondents reported a financial loss of $100,000 or more. Over 30% reported a loss of $1 million or more. Several factors contributed to these losses, the most common being legal fees (selected by 35% of respondents), revenue lost (35%), and regulatory fines (35%). These findings spotlight the major financial impacts amid persistent cyberattacks. 

 

Respondents met ransomware demands of $1 million or more to recover access to encrypted systems and files to resume operations were reported by 40% of respondents. 

 

On the origins of these cyberattacks, 76% of respondents identified third-party supplier access to the CPS environment as a source, with 41% reporting five or more attacks originating from such access.

 

Remarkably, nearly 72% admitted to having only partial or no understanding of third-party connectivity to the CPS environment.  

https://www.mining.com/mining-sector-cyberattacks-linked-to-third-party-supplier-access-in-76-of-cases-report/