OT breaches could lead to losses of $330 billion!

SCWorld.com reported that “In a worst-case -- but possible -- scenario over a one-year period, losses from OT-related breaches could reach $329.5 billion, with $172.4 billion from OT-related business interruption, according to an Aug. 12 report by cybersecurity firm Dragos and the Marsh McLennan’s Cyber Risk Intelligence Center.”  The August 14, 2025 article entitled " Annual losses from OT-related breaches could hit $330 billion” (https://www.scworld.com/news/annual-losses-from-ot-related-breaches-could-hit-330-billion) included these comments:

“Executives are increasingly accountable for managing cyber risks, but many still lack a clear line of sight into OT environments,” said Robert M. Lee, Dragos CEO and co-founder. “The ability to quantify OT cyber risk and correlate it to potential financial losses is a game-changer. Our report fills a critical gap by translating OT security into measurable financial risk and assessing controls aimed at mitigating that risk.”

The report, which the Marsh McLennan Cyber Risk Intelligence Center analyzed a decade of breach and insurance claims data, found that the three OT cybersecurity controls most correlated with risk reduction (RR) include the following:

*Incident response planning, up to 18.5% average risk reduction.

*Defensible architecture, up to 17.09% RR.

*ICS network visibility and monitoring, up to 16.47% RR.

Mark Stacey, director of strategy for Dragos, said standard IT tools fall short in OT environments because the protocols and systems are different. Stacey said purpose-built technology delivers OT-specific detections and playbooks, empowering defenders to operate effectively in these unique environments.

WOW, what do you think?