Most CNI Firms Face Up to £5m in Downtime from OT Attacks
Most CNI Firms Face Up to £5m in Downtime from OT Attacks
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/most-cni-firms-5m-downtime-ot/
Publish Date: 2026-04-02 04:30:00
Source Domain: www.infosecurity-magazine.com
The vast majority (80%) of critical national infrastructure (CNI) providers in the UK face downtime costs of between £100,000 ($132,144) and £5m ($6.6m) from cyber-attacks that disrupt their operational technology (OT), according to e2e-assure.
The SOC-as-a-service provider polled 250 cybersecurity decision makers in CNI sectors including manufacturing, energy, utilities, transport and retail to better understand the impact of cyber threats.
It claimed that around a quarter (23%) of OT downtime incidents costs businesses over £1m, with 6% exceeding £5m.
That might explain why nearly two-thirds (64%) of those polled said they are afraid of nation-state attacks.
Read more on CNI threats: UK: Regulation Drives Cyber Spending for Critical Infrastructure Orgs.
“This fear reflects a shift in how cyber-threats are being used, not just for data theft and monetary gain, but to disrupt operations and apply strategic pressure against critical services such as energy, transport and manufacturing,” said Rob Demain, CEO at e2e-assure.
“For OT environments, the impact of this threat is more immediate and tangible than in IT. Industrial systems underpin physical processes, meaning a successful breach can interrupt operations, halt production or affect safety.”
Iran Threat Increases Tension
The threat of OT disruption has arguably increased in recent weeks with the US-Israel bombing of Iran. The country’s hacking capabilities cannot match Russia’s or China’s for scale or sophistication, but it has previously been able to hijack CNI networks.
In 2024, Five Eyes intelligence agencies warned of a year-long campaign where Iranian hackers used password spraying and MFA-bombing techniques to gain a foothold in the networks of healthcare, government, IT, engineering and energy companies.
Last year, a report from the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) warned that “it is unlikely that all UK entities are able to detect or defend against Iranian…
