Global Exposure of 180,000 ICS/OT Devices Raises Safety Concerns

Bitsight warns ICS/OT exposure jumped 12% in 2024, leaving 180,000+ critical infrastructure systems open to attack. Learn about the possible vulnerabilities and new malware strains.

The cybersecurity firm Bitsight has issued a major warning about a rapid increase in critical systems left vulnerable on the public internet. These devices, called Industrial Control Systems and Operational Technology (ICS/OT), are basically the computers that run physical processes like power grids and manufacturing plants.

While these devices are not meant to be easily accessible, Bitsight tracked an alarming jump in their exposure throughout 2024 and shared its findings with Hackread.com.

According to Bitsight’s report, “The Unforgivable Exposure” of ICS/OT, global exposure has risen by around 12% in 2024. The monthly count of exposed devices jumped from approximately 160,000 to a massive 180,000 unique IP addresses. If the current trend holds, the number of exposed critical ...