An OT Incident Scoring Systems Inspired by Natural Disasters

System Meant to Dispel FUD Faces Uphill Climb to Widespread Adoption Shaun Waterman • March 4, 2026

Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes - and now operational technology cyber incidents - all can receive a numerical score based on their severity, although a new effort promoting an "OT Incident Impact Score" across critical infrastructure sectors faces an uphill climb to get the traction it needs to succeed.

See Also: From Ancient Myths to Modern Threats: Securing the Transition from Legacy to Leading Edge

Score backers say the system is meant to dispel the fear, uncertainty, doubt and threat inflation that surrounds cyberattacks impacting OT systems, which are often poorly understood and mischaracterized.

"We desperately need better ways to communicate [OT] cyber incident severity to non-technical audiences," said Munish Walther-Puri, head of critical infrastructure at TPO Group and a member of the faculty at IANS Research. He came up with the idea of an impact ...