The State of OT Security: A Comprehensive Guide to Trends, Risks, and Cyber Resilience report by Palo Alto Networks revealed that 73.3% of Singaporean respondents stated that their organisations had experienced at least one cyberattack in 2023, with over 60% of respondents experiencing attacks often monthly or weekly.
OT security landscape
The report surveyed based on 1,979 operational technology (OT) and IT business leaders across 23 countries globally, including 101 leaders in Singapore, also revealed that
Due to an attack, 35.1% of Singaporean organisations needed to shut down industrial operations in 2023. Around 60.4% of Singapore respondents consider OT cybersecurity a high priority, and around 49.5% expect to increase spending in the next two years.
AI-led approach
Only 12.9% answered that their OT and IT teams are aligned, and only 36.6% of respondents reported shared responsibility between two teams for OT cybersecurity purchases. Moreover, the survey found that 68% of respondents in Singapore identified AI attacks against OT as a critical issue today, and 80% agreed that AI would be instrumental in mitigating attacks.
"An AI-led approach stands at the forefront of defence, offering unparalleled capabilities to analyse massive data volumes at speed and identify patterns indicating imminent threats, even before an attack occurs. Furthermore, a close collaboration between the IT and OT teams is essential to ensure a consolidated approach to cybersecurity," Claribel Chai, country manager, Singapore at Palo Alto Networks, said.
Enforcing security
The report found that 79% of organisations in Singapore believed cloud migration would reinforce OT security, but around 54% also stated it would create increased cybersecurity challenges in the next two years.
80% of industrial respondents consider the importance of Zero-Trust solutions, but just over 15% have fully implemented them for their OT/IT environments.