Critical infrastructures worldwide, including power, energy and water utilities, are not prepared for cyber attacks, according to a study that polled 599 technology executives in 13 different countries.
According to a report, the study states the risk of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure control centers is "believed to have substantially increased." The study was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and Unisys Corp. Utility, oil, gas, energy and manufacturing were among the control centers cited in the research.
Almost 70 percent of companies surveyed were responsible for power, water and other critical infrastructure needs around the world have reported at least one security breach that led to the loss of confidential information or operational disruption, Unisys said in a press release. That was over the period of one year.
A third of the companies surveyed do not get real time updates or systems that could potentially stop a cyber attack on their control centers. Less than a third even considered security against cyber threats to be top five strategic priorities at their organization.
"The findings of the survey are startling, given that these industries form the backbone of the global economy and cannot afford a disruption," said Dr. Larry Ponemon, the chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. "While the desire for security protection is apparent among these companies, not nearly enough is actually being done to secure our critical infrastructure against attacks."
One report states about a quarter of the organizations were threatened by an insider or internal controls. The world's electric grids, power generators and pipelines are among those that are threatened by these attacks on what researchers call critical infrastructure.
Less than one quarter of the respondents said systems to mitigate the threats did not work sufficiently.
The study conducted the interviews between April and May 2014. Countries involved in the study included United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Australia, France, Mexico, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Spain, New Zealand and Colombia.
