Industrial organisations: Cyberattacks cause over $1,000,000 financial losses: study

ISLAMABAD: The majority of industrial organizations have estimated their financial losses caused by cyberattacks at over USD 1,000,000, while almost one in four reported losses exceeding US$5,000,000 and losses surpassed USD 10,000,000 in few cases.

These findings were revealed in a joint study conducted by Kaspersky and VDC Research.

A recent joint study effort by Kaspersky and VDC Research titled “Securing OT with Purpose-built Solutions,” provides an in-depth analysis of the current state of Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity. Based on a survey of over 250 decision-makers from energy, utilities, manufacturing, transportation and other sectors, the study offers valuable insights into the key business and technical trends affecting industrial organisations, as well as the most effective strategies being implemented to address these challenges.

The research underscores that the financial impact of an OT cybersecurity breach is both complex and multifaceted. Organizations must consider a wide range of costs, including lost revenue opportunities, unplanned production downtime, scrap and loss of work-in-progress inventory, and damage to equipment or property. Beyond these costs, the total financial burden also encompasses direct breach-related expenses such as incident response—whether handled internally or by third-party providers — and ransom payments.

When accounting for all these factors, nearly 25% of survey respondents estimated that each cyberattack could result in damages exceeding US$5 million over a two-year period.

While maintenance-driven strategies to combat unplanned downtime help, strengthening cybersecurity is essential to prevent breaches that lead to costly equipment failures and outages. Ignoring cybersecurity risks undermines efforts to eliminate downtime and protect profits”, comments Andrey Strelkov, Head of Industrial Cybersecurity Product Line at Kaspersky.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025