Full Report
Attacks on operational technology (OT) protocols grew by 84% in 2025, according to Forescout’s 2025 Threat Roundup, with attacks on industrial automation protocols increasing to 86% in 2025 and attacks against building automation protocols increasing by 33%, underscoring that monitoring traffic to and from OT assets is now as critical as monitoring IT traffic. The report…
Analysis Summary
# Incident Report: Significant Rise in OT Protocol Attacks in 2025
## Executive Summary
The year 2025 saw an alarming 84% increase in attacks targeting Operational Technology (OT) protocols, highlighted in Forescout's 2025 Threat Roundup. Attacks specifically against industrial automation protocols surged by 86%, and building automation protocols increased by 33%. This trend signals that visibility into OT network traffic has become as crucial as IT monitoring. The primary vectors noted involved the increased malicious abuse of benign infrastructure, notably cloud services, with web applications emerging as the most targeted service category.
## Incident Details
- **Discovery Date:** Throughout 2025 (Report Publication: February 3, 2026)
- **Incident Date:** Statistical period spanning the entirety of 2025
- **Affected Organization:** Not applicable (This is a sector-wide threat intelligence summary, not a single incident)
- **Sector:** Manufacturing/Industrial, Critical Infrastructure, Building Management
- **Geography:** Global (Inferred from threat report scope)
## Timeline of Events
*Note: As this is an aggregate report, the timeline reflects trends observed across the reporting period.*
### Initial Access
- **Date/Time:** Throughout 2025
- **Vector:** Increased abuse of benign infrastructure, particularly cloud services. Web applications were the most targeted service category.
- **Details:** Attackers leveraged common IT infrastructure components (like cloud platforms) to launch secondary attacks against OT environments.
### Lateral Movement
- **Details:** Not explicitly detailed for all attacks, but the general trend suggests successful initial compromises allowed adversaries to move toward and interact with OT assets.
### Data Exfiltration/Impact
- **Impact Focus:** The core impact cited is functional disruption and potential control loss within industrial and building automation systems due to protocol manipulation (86% surge in industrial automation attacks).
### Detection & Response
- **Detection:** Identified via Forescout's threat intelligence gathering throughout 2025.
- **Response Actions:** The critical response action highlighted is the necessity for enhanced monitoring of OT traffic, treating it with equal importance to IT traffic.
## Attack Methodology
*Note: Specific TTPs are not detailed for individual incidents, but generalized trends informing the statistics are noted.*
- **Initial Access:** Cloud services exploitation, Web application targeting.
- **Persistence:** Not specified.
- **Privilege Escalation:** Not specified.
- **Defense Evasion:** Not specified.
- **Credential Access:** Not specified.
- **Discovery:** Not specified.
- **Lateral Movement:** Not specified, but implied movement toward OT assets.
- **Collection:** Not specified.
- **Exfiltration:** Not specified.
- **Impact:** Direct manipulation or interference with Industrial Automation Protocols and Building Automation Protocols.
## Impact Assessment
- **Financial:** Not specified (Implied significant impact due to the nature of OT disruption).
- **Data Breach:** Not specified.
- **Operational:** Severe operational risk identified, particularly in key industrial and infrastructure control systems (e.g., 86% increase in industrial protocol attacks).
- **Reputational:** Not specified.
## Indicators of Compromise
*No specific IOCs were provided in the summary text.*
## Response Actions
- **Containment measures:** Not specified for individual cases.
- **Eradication steps:** Not specified for individual cases.
- **Recovery actions:** Not specified for individual cases.
- **General Required Action:** Increased focus and implementation of security controls specifically for OT network traffic monitoring.
## Lessons Learned
- **Key Takeaway 1:** Attacks against operational technology protocols are accelerating rapidly (84% year-over-year growth).
- **Key Takeaway 2:** Attackers are increasingly weaponizing standard IT infrastructure, such as cloud services, to gain access to OT environments.
- **What could have been done better:** Organizations under-prioritized OT monitoring, as indicated by the resulting rise in successful attacks against industrial and building controls.
## Recommendations
- Implement comprehensive, deep packet inspection and monitoring solutions specifically designed for Operational Technology (OT) protocols.
- Segment IT and OT networks strictly, minimizing reliance on IT infrastructure (like cloud services) for OT communication unless secured by specialized protocols.
- Elevate the security priority of OT environments to match the rigor applied to traditional IT environments.