- The growing exposure of industrial systems puts critical services and infrastructure at real risk
- Ai helps both defenders and attackers to accelerate the discovery and exploitation of vulnerabilities
- Decisions driven by convenience leave critical devices online creating unforgivable risk
A new report warned that after years of improvement, the number of industrial systems directly accessible on the Internet is growing again.
Bitsight’s investigation states that the number of devices set out in 2024 grew from 160,000 to 180,000, a 12%jump.
If things continue as they have been, the total number of devices at risk is expected to exceed 200,000 by the end of 2025.
Petio case scenario
A large number of these systems, which include water treatment controllers, buildings automation equipment and thousands of automatic tank measurement systems without authentication, transport documented failures, including CVSS 10.0 vulnerability that are easy for attackers to exploit.
In the worst case, the main research scientist Pedro Umbelino warns that the attackers could remotely cut the fuel access or alter the safety configuration.
The new facilities began to appear online in 2024 without basic security instead, coinciding with the increase of malware, such as Frostygoop and Fuxnet, designed to direct industrial systems.
Italy and Spain had the highest exposure rates when measured by company and population, while the United States had the greatest number in general.
Speaking about the reports of the report, Umbelino told us that AI has become “a multiplier on both sides.”
He explained that Bitsight uses automatic learning to process scan data at the Internet and detect anomalies, while LLM now helps analysts to accelerate tasks such as the analysis of analysis of analysis.
At the same time, however, AI reduces the cost of attackers, which makes it easier for them to find objectives and build malware.
“You don’t need a GPU farm when devices are already a poorly configured router of the public network,” he told us.
When asked if the exhibition is the result of negligence or deliberate choice, Umbelino pointed to both.
“I think exposure often occurs due to basic supervision,” he said, adding that many cases are reduced to convenience: “Remote access is easier, cheaper and more convenient. Integrators want fast facilities. Operators want less friction. Suppliers want everything connected.”
“When these elections accumulate,” he said, “the result is an unacceptable systemic risk if someone refers or not. That is why I mean this exposure as unforgiving. Because it seems to me that it is not whether a catastrophic disaster will happen, but when.”
The report, which can access here, urges operators to eliminate public access, demand predetermined values of stronger suppliers and involve service providers as monitoring partners.
These systems warn the report, “execute more than plants and bombs: they have confidence.”
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