Shieldworkz 2025 Threat Landscape Report Outlines Key Threats, Risks, Attacks and Vulnerabilities Linked to OT/ICS Infrastructure

In a world where our essential services rely on interconnected industrial systems, understanding the cybersecurity threats they face isn't just important, it's critical.

Shieldworkz has just released its most in-depth OT and IoT threat and risk analysis to date. "The Global OT/ICS & IoT Threat Landscape Assessment & Analysis Report 2025." This isn't just another report; it's a vital guide for security leaders across manufacturing, oil and gas, energy, and other core industries, offering an unparalleled look into how today's most sophisticated attackers operate.

Developed by the Shieldworkz Threat Research Lab, this report goes beyond theory, providing real-world data and actionable strategies to empower those on the front lines of critical infrastructure defense.

A Nod to Industry Visionaries

The launch of this flagship report at GOTS 2025 was truly special, thanks to the esteemed leaders who graced the event. Their insights and support were instrumental in shaping the report's rigorous methodology and practical recommendations. We extend our sincerest gratitude to:

• Shri Paparaju Buddhavarapu, Ex-Executive Director & CISO, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.
• Shri M.A.K.P. Singh, Former Member (Hydro), Central Electricity Authority; Former CISO, Ministry of Power, Government of India
• Shri Vinayak Godse, CEO, Data Security Council of India
• Shri Durga Prasad Dube, Vice President, Reliance Infosolutions Pvt. Ltd.
• Shri Krishna Kumar, Cybersecurity Scientist
• Shri Mrinal Ro, CISO, Cairn Oil & Gas

Why This 2025 OT and IoT Security Report Is a Must-Read

As our operational technology (OT), industrial control systems (ICS), and the vast world of IoT increasingly merge, critical environments are facing an unprecedented barrage of sophisticated threats. The past year alone has seen alarming trends:

• Explosive Growth of Attack Surfaces: Imagine this: over 85 million new IoT sensors were deployed, making operations smarter but also creating countless "wireless blind spots" for attackers to exploit.
• Automated IoT Botnets on the Prowl: We've seen coordinated deauthentication and denial-of-service attacks rapidly disrupt remote operations, sometimes within mere hours.
• Ransomware's Vicious Evolution: Adversaries are no longer using generic attacks. They're now crafting OT-specific ransomware payloads, cleverly combining zero-day exploits with lateral-movement toolkits to inflict maximum operational and financial chaos.

In response to these escalating threats, Shieldworkz Threat Research Lab has meticulously gathered data from a vast array of sources: global honeypots, wireless sensor arrays, real-world incident response cases, and strategic intelligence partnerships. The result? A report that truly transcends academic discussions, delivering guidance that's not just actionable but also deeply rooted in real-world data.

Unparalleled Data Sources, Unmatched Insights

What makes this report stand out? Its foundation of robust, diverse data:

• 150,000+ Distributed Honeypots: These traps, spread across 30 countries, captured over 1.2 billion attack attempts in 2024 alone, giving us a clear picture of global threat activity.
• Wireless Sensor Mesh: More than 20,000 sensors diligently monitored everything from rogue device scanning to deauthentication storms and RF-based reconnaissance in live production sites.
• Incident Response Engagements: We've gleaned crucial insights from 75 major OT incident investigations, detailing critical elements like dwell times, breach vectors, and the staggering costs of recovery.
• Strategic Intelligence Alliances: Collaborations with national CERTs and ICS-CERT programs have enriched our dataset with vital information on zero-day Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), supply-chain compromise reports, and detailed threat-actor profiles.

By weaving together these diverse data streams, the report meticulously charts the full lifecycle of modern OT/ICS intrusions, from the initial reconnaissance to the final data exfiltration. This provides defenders with a crystal-clear roadmap for significantly reducing their risk.

Rapidly Escalating Threat Trends: What You Need to Know

The report highlights several alarming trends that demand immediate attention:

Compressed Breach Timelines:

• Under 24-Hour Takeovers: A staggering 68 percent of intrusions achieved full process-control compromise in less than a day, representing a concerning 40 percent acceleration over 2023.
• Swift Ransomware Deployment: Customized ransomware is reaching target environments within a median of just six hours post-breach, leaving defenders with precious little time to react.

Wireless Network Exploits on the Rise:

• Deauthentication Storms: We've seen a 120 percent year-over-year increase as attackers specifically target unmonitored Wi-Fi segments to sever critical communications.
• RF Reconnaissance: Over 250 million unauthorized connection probes underscore the growing threat of "drive-by" industrial scanning.

Credential-Based Botnets Exploiting Weaknesses:

• Default Credentials Persist: Shockingly, 42 percent of IoT devices in oil & gas and energy sectors still use factory default credentials, making them prime targets for botnet recruitment.
• Long-Term Shell Access: Attackers maintained unauthorized access on 18 percent of compromised devices for more than three months, highlighting persistent threats.

Supply-Chain Compromises: A Growing Nightmare:

• Firmware Backdoors: The discovery of twelve zero-day vulnerabilities traced back to compromised vendor updates underscores the absolute criticality of signed firmware.
• Insider Risks: A significant 22 percent of incidents involved malicious or negligent third-party personnel, stressing the urgent need for robust access governance.

Sector-Specific Impact and Staggering Costs

The financial stakes are immense. The report breaks down the hourly downtime costs by sector, highlighting the urgent need for robust security controls:

These figures aren't just numbers; they represent the staggering financial and operational consequences of inadequate security.

Five Pillars for a Future-Ready OT Security Strategy

The report isn't just about identifying problems; it offers a clear path forward with five essential pillars for strengthening your OT security posture:

1. Total Visibility: Integrate IT/OT monitoring for both wired and wireless networks, and centralize logs from remote sites to eliminate dangerous blind spots.

2. Robust Credential Hygiene: Enforce unique, complex passwords, disable factory defaults immediately, and automate credential rotation with multi-factor authentication on all critical endpoints.

3. Zero-Trust Micro-Segmentation: Segment networks by function and risk, strictly limiting "east-west" traffic, and employ software-defined perimeters to enforce granular policy controls.

4. Supply-Chain Risk Mitigation: Demand cryptographic signing for all firmware and software updates, and maintain a dynamic vendor security scorecard with regular assessments.

5. roactive Incident Readiness: Conduct quarterly tabletop exercises with cross-functional stakeholders, and establish real-time threat intelligence sharing with industry peers and national CERTs.

Shieldworkz: Your Trusted Partner in OT Resilience

The findings from the 2025 report are more than just insights; they're natively integrated into the Shieldworkz Platform, providing concrete benefits:

• More OT asset detection and behaviour tracking than competition
• Real-Time Threat Detection: Automated ingestion of new IOCs and TTPs means you're always ahead of emerging threats.
• Prioritized Remediation Workflows: Data-driven risk scoring helps you focus your resources where they'll have the most impact.
• Advanced Managed Services: From comprehensive architecture reviews and penetration tests to custom red-team scenarios in our dedicated OT labs, Shieldworkz offers tailored expertise.
• IEC 62443, NIST and NIS2-based security managment for OT operators
• Legacy-to-Edge Modernization: We help bridge the gap between obsolete PLCs and next-gen edge devices, slashing your mean time to detect by up to 60 percent.
• Executive Decision Support: Get audit-ready reporting, clear budget justification metrics, and board-level risk dashboards to empower informed decisions.

Don't let evolving adversaries outpace your defenses. Download the Global OT/ICS & IoT Threat Landscape Assessment & Analysis Report 2025 today to gain exclusive briefings on emerging threats and defense best practices. Every hour of delay increases the risk of operational downtime, hefty regulatory fines, and irreparable reputational harm. Are you ready to strengthen your defenses?