Utilities facing escalating threat
Data shows 70% jump in cyberattacks this year
By: Seher Dareen
and Vallari Srivastava
Reuters
..... U.S. utilities faced a near 705 jump in cyberattacks this year [2024] over the same period in 2023, according to data from Check Point Research, underlining the escalating threat to critical infrastructure.
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The utilities and power infrastructure across the U.S. are becoming increasingly vulnerable as the grid expands rapidly to meet surging demand for power and assets are digitized.
..... Utilities are low-hanging fruit for cyberattacks because many use outdated software, said Douglas McKee of cybersecurity firm SonicWall.
..... To date, U.S. utility, but industry experts warn a coordinated attempt could be devastating, impacting essential services and causing substantial financial losses. there were 1,163 cyberattacks on average through August this year, [2024] compared to 689 in 2023, check Point data showed.
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The energy sector is considered to be more vulnerable to such attacks. In May 2021, fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline was forced to shut down its entire network due to one of the biggest cyberattack incidents on the energy industry.
..... More recently, U.S. oilfield services firm Halliburton disclosed that an unauthorized third party had accessed and removed data from its systems.
..... Compliance with regulations such as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's Critical Infrastructure Protection, which safeguards bulk power systems from cyber threats, only provides a minimum standard or protection, experts said.
..... The expansion of the grid, including incremental interconnections to new customers like generative AI data centers, is crating more potential points of attack.
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Earlier this year, [2024] the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said the number of susceptible points on the U.S. electric network has been increasing by about 60 per day.
..... Several major U.S. companies have suffered ransomware attacks in recent years including UnitedHealth Group's change Heathcare unit in February. [2024]
..... "If an equivalent attack occurred that was on the scale of Change Healthcare the impact could be ... devastating," said Kevin Kirkwood, chief information security officer at cybersecurity provider Exabeam.
..... Even branches that do not directly compromise critical infrastructure could lead to significant financial losses, said Wayne Tung, manging director at Sendero Consulting.
..... The average cost of a data breach in the energy sector reached a global high of $4.72 million. IBM reported in 2022.
..... Historically, election years also fuel heightened malicious cyber activity.
..... "With the upcoming U.S. election, we can expect a surge in cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, including utilities, energy grids and communication network," said Nataliia Zdrok, senior threat intelligence analyst at Binary Defense.