Rise in ransomware attacks against manufacturing plans
Ransomware attacks against manufacturing plants are on the rise, with the manufacturing sector experiencing over 70% of the 605 ransomware attacks identified in 2022. Specific threat groups like Chernovite and Bentonite are targeting industrial systems, posing a significant risk to critical infrastructure.
A recent report by Dragos, a cybersecurity company, highlights the rise in ransomware attacks agains critical infrastructure and, in particular, against the manufacturing systems. The report shows that the manufacturing sector had at least 437 ransomware attacks in 2022, accounting for more than 70% of these disruptive attacks that industrial organisations had experienced the previous year.
The company identified a total of 605 ransomware attacks affecting the industrial sector in 2022, a 92% increase over the 315 attacks detected in 2021.
The report also epxlores the activity of two threat groups – Chernovite and Bentonite – that focus on attacking the industrial sector. While Chernovite targets electric, liquid, and natural gas companies in Europe and the USA, Bentonite mainly focuses on attacking maritime oil and gas companies, governments, and the manufacturing sector.