According to a study by KnowBe4, critical infrastructure suffered more than 420 million cyberattacks between January 2023 and January 2024, a 30% increase over the previous year. Physical structures such as power, transportation and communications networks are at particular risk due to the disruptions that failures would cause.
As infrastructures around the world become increasingly digitalised, reliance on the internet leaves them vulnerable to cyber threats. Power grids in Europe and the US, for example, are increasingly exposed to a “deluge of cyber attacks”, and have been inundated with attacks by the thousands since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Infrastructure in more than 160 countries has been attacked, with the United States being the main target, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, India and Japan. Threat actors are reported to be most frequently from China, Russia and Iran.
cyber war
Infrastructure attacks have the potential to paralyze the daily lives of millions of people, putting hospitals and businesses at risk, as well as leaving millions without access to bank accounts or electricity. The number of attacks on public services has quadrupled since 2020. If we take into account the biggest physical threat, such as the internet cable sabotageThere is potential for devastating damage.
Earlier this year, US water networks were… identified as a serious target for foreign-backed threat actors. While they have only caused minimal disruption so far, Leonard Birnbaum, CEO of E.ON, one of Europe’s largest utilities, said that “criminals are getting better by the day,” commenting: “I’m worried now and I’ll be even more worried in the future.”
Research indicates that in the event of an attack, electrical installations are most likely to be the first target, followed by railways, communications and manufacturing facilities. These are, of course, calculated scenarios, but the rise in cyberattacks highlights the need to invest in cybersecurity now more than ever.
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