New Study Reveals 92 Percent of Industrial Sites at Risk from Unsecured Remote Access

  • Jan 24, 2025

DeNexus, a provider in end-to-end cyber risk management for operational technology (OT) in Industrial Enterprises and Critical Infrastructures with cyber-physical assets, today announced the results of a comprehensive analysis of 254 industrial sites across North America, Europe, and Australia has revealed that 92% of sites face significant cyber exposures related to remote services, with potential losses reaching up to $1.5 million per site. The study, conducted by DeNexus using their DeRISK platform, highlights the critical need for enhanced security measures in industrial remote access solutions.

Planning and forecasting security investments for existing and future data center facilities requires financial quantification of both physical and cyber risks. With this new capability, DeRISK’s models capture the facility’s physical security zones, the various access paths from zone to zone, the related physical access controls and their effectiveness, and the probability of a successful bypass that could result on a cyber event. With DeNexus, security leaders can understand physical and cyber exposures at their data center facilities, estimate the potential financial loss from a breach, and run “what-if” scenarios for various risk mitigation investments to strengthen physical and cyber defenses.

Key Findings include:

  • 88% of analyzed sites identified remote services (a MITRE ATT&CK® initial access vector) as their most significant cybersecurity risk
  • Manufacturing sector shows highest exposure, with average expected losses of $875,000
  • Renewable energy sector demonstrates lower but still significant risk, with expected losses around $150,000
  • Average annual expected loss related to remote services reaches $223,000 per site

To mitigate remote access vulnerabilities, DeNexus recommends implementing frequent vulnerability scanning and patching on at least a monthly basis, along with strict authentication measures including Multi-Factor Authentication. Organizations should also deploy just-in-time authorization for remote access, strengthen network segmentation between OT and IT systems, and maintain robust password management with regular updates and account lockout policies.

The study's timing is particularly relevant as recent research from Claroty in 2024 indicates that organizations are deploying too many remote access solutions within OT environments. This over-deployment creates excessive risk and operational challenges. Additionally, separate research by Takepoint Research found that remote services were the primary attack vector in 17 out of 24 major cyber-attacks on OT environments.

The full report includes a detailed analysis of risk exposures across different industrial sectors and provides comprehensive recommendations for securing remote access in industrial environments.

To access the full report, please visit https://blog.denexus.io/resources/data-report-remote-services

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