ATLANTA, April 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON)
today released its 2024 USB Threat Report, which provides new
insight into how "silent residency" is an increasing cyber threat
for industrial and critical infrastructure facilities. In the
report, Honeywell highlighted the growing risk of "living off the
land" ("LotL") attacks in which adversaries use USB devices to gain
access to industrial control systems in order to hide and observe
operations before launching attacks that evade detection and
manipulate the target systems.
"Targeted cyber-physical attacks are more than zero-day exploits
that take advantage of an unknown or unaddressed vulnerability.
Instead, they are now also about silent residency – using LotL
attacks to wait until there is an opportune moment to turn a system
against itself," said Michael Ruiz,
vice president of OT cybersecurity for Honeywell.
Now in its sixth year, the report underscores the severe risk
USB-borne malware poses to industrial and critical infrastructure
facilities. Key findings in the report indicate that adversaries
now have a strong understanding of industrial environments and how
they operate. According to the report, most of the malware detected
on USB devices by Honeywell's Secure Media Exchange could cause
loss of view or loss of control of an industrial process, a
potentially catastrophic scenario for operators.
"As digital transformation and automation accelerate, so does
the exposure to sophisticated and malicious cyberattacks that can
have devastating consequences in terms of reputation, safety and
continuity," said Ruiz. "There are numerous ways a bad actor can
infiltrate an OT environment, including through USBs. With
Honeywell's advanced end-to-end technology and deep experience, we
partner with our customers to improve their ability to protect
their assets and data from these threats."
The 2024 report is based on the Honeywell Global Analysis,
Research and Defense (GARD) team's tracking and analysis
of aggregated cybersecurity threat data from hundreds of
industrial facilities globally during a 12-month period.
Several of the report's additional key findings included:
- USB devices continue to be used as an initial attack vector
into industrial environments, as 51% of malware is designed
to spread via USB, a nearly six-fold increase from 9% in 2019.
- Content-based malware, which uses existing documents and
scripting functions maliciously, is on the rise, accounting for
20% of malware.
- Over 13% of all malware blocked specifically leveraged
the inherent capabilities of common documents, such as Word, Excel
and PDF documents.
- 82% of malware is capable of causing disruption to
industrial operations, resulting in loss of view, loss of control,
or system outages in OT environments.
To download the full report, visit:
https://hcenews.honeywell.com/CYB-2024-Threat-Report-LP.html
About Honeywell
Honeywell is an integrated operating company serving a broad
range of industries and geographies around the world. Our
business is aligned with three powerful megatrends –
automation, the future of aviation and energy transition
– underpinned by our Honeywell Accelerator operating
system and Honeywell Connected Enterprise integrated software
platform. As a trusted partner, we help organizations solve
the world's toughest, most complex challenges, providing actionable
solutions and innovations through our Aerospace Technologies,
Industrial Automation, Building Automation and Energy and
Sustainability Solutions business segments that help make the world
smarter, safer and more sustainable. For more news and
information on Honeywell, please
visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.
Contact:
Jennifer Marsh
jennifer.marsh@honeywell.com
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SOURCE Honeywell International, Inc.