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  • 🎯 The Executive Drive Behind OT Security Evolution

🎯 The Executive Drive Behind OT Security Evolution

Fines, leaks, and hacks—key cyber updates

Author

Alison Bridge
July 15, 2025

Welcome to your essential briefing on threats at the intersection of cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, brought to you by Neeve, the edge cloud security platform for smart buildings, making built spaces secure, intelligent, and sustainable.

This Week’s Cyber Insights

CISOs are rapidly consolidating security architectures around single-vendor SASE platforms as AI-powered attacks exploit the 200-millisecond gaps between tool handoffs in fragmented security stacks. The latest SASE funding rounds show investors are confident this model will massively consolidate the security market.

  • Gartner projects 65% of new SD-WAN purchases will be part of single-vendor SASE by 2027, up from 20% in 2024

  • Average organizations deploy 83 security solutions from 29 vendors, with 52% of executives citing complexity as the biggest operational impediment

  • 75% of organizations pursue vendor consolidation, up from 29% three years ago

  • Attackers exploit integration gaps faster than security teams can coordinate between multiple vendors

  • SASE market projected to reach $28.5 billion by 2028 with 26% CAGR growth

🤔 The Bigger Picture:

The shift toward SASE represents a fundamental architectural change for building and facility security. Smart building operators managing IoT devices, access control systems, and building automation networks can no longer afford the security gaps created by fragmented vendor approaches.

The EU's NIS2 Directive establishes legally binding cybersecurity requirements across critical infrastructure sectors, with significant implications for building operators, data centers, and smart infrastructure providers. The directive explicitly encourages AI adoption while imposing strict incident reporting and management accountability.

  • New requirements cover energy, transport, healthcare, digital infrastructure, manufacturing, and public administration with minimal exemptions

  • Management bodies face personal responsibility for compliance breaches, with fines capped at €10 million or 2% of annual worldwide turnover

  • 24-hour notification requirement for significant incidents to national authorities or CSIRTs

  • Member states urged to promote "innovative technology, including artificial intelligence" for active cyber protection

  • Regulators gain significant investigation and supervision capabilities, including on-site inspections

🤔 The Bigger Picture:

NIS2 represents the most comprehensive cybersecurity regulation affecting European critical infrastructure, with direct implications for building automation systems, data center operations, and smart city infrastructure. Facility managers and building operators must evaluate their current incident response capabilities and ensure executive accountability structures meet the directive's requirements.

A fundamental transformation is underway in operational technology security, with CISOs dramatically expanding their authority over industrial systems. Fortinet's latest research reveals that 52% of organizations now place OT security under CISO leadership—a remarkable surge from just 16% in 2022.

  • 80% of organizations plan to follow this leadership model, bringing industrial cybersecurity directly into boardroom focus

  • Organizations at higher security maturity levels (3-4) report 65% experiencing zero intrusions, compared to 46% at lower maturity levels

  • 78% now use only 1-4 OT vendors, indicating strategic platform consolidation for operational efficiency

  • Zero-intrusion reports jumped from 6% in 2022 to 52% in 2025, with operational revenue-impacting outages dropping from 52% to 42%

  • 66% expect increased OT regulations within five years, with 26% anticipating changes within one year

🤔 The Bigger Picture:

This executive elevation of OT security signals recognition that operational technology vulnerabilities pose enterprise-level risks requiring C-suite attention. Organizations should evaluate whether their current OT security reporting structure provides adequate executive visibility and resource allocation for protecting critical building systems.

Further Alerts & Insights

🤖 Critical AI Infrastructure Vulnerabilities Expose New Attack Vectors

Two critical remote code execution vulnerabilities in the Model Context Protocol (MCP) ecosystem reveal dangerous security gaps in AI's backbone infrastructure. CVE-2025-49596 and CVE-2025-6514 could allow attackers to compromise systems through AI model integrations, with over 5,000 MCP servers worldwide potentially at risk.

🔒 BERT Ransomware Group Targets Critical Infrastructure Across Multiple Platforms

A new ransomware group known as BERT has emerged targeting healthcare, technology, and event services across Asia, Europe, and the US. The group employs PowerShell-based loaders and supports up to 50 encryption threads on Linux systems, specifically targeting ESXi servers to maximize operational disruption.

📊 GAO Reports Rising Critical Infrastructure Cyberattacks Despite Information Sharing Progress

Federal cyber information sharing initiatives show positive results, but attacks on critical infrastructure including healthcare and energy systems continue escalating in sophistication and impact. Ransomware attacks have forced hospitals to cancel emergency care and critical procedures, highlighting urgent need for strengthened sector defenses.

🎯 CISO Role Burnout Reaches Crisis Levels Amid Rising Personal Liability

Security leaders face unprecedented stress as 91% of CISOs report moderate to high stress levels, with many leaving operational roles due to structural underpowerment and increased personal accountability. Growing regulatory demands and lack of authority to influence enterprise risk create unsustainable working conditions for cybersecurity executives.

✈️ Qantas Confirms 5.7M Customer Records Stolen in Vendor Attack

Australian airline Qantas confirmed a cyberattack on one of its vendors compromised 5.7 million passenger records, including names, email addresses, frequent-flyer numbers, and personal details. Security researchers link the attack to Scattered Spider-affiliated groups using social engineering tactics to target transportation companies. The incident highlights supply chain vulnerabilities in critical transportation infrastructure operations.