Dragos Annual Review Warns of Mischaracterized OT Ransomware and Nation-State Prepositioning
Dragos’ annual review of cyberattacks targeting operational technology (OT) warns of a “silent epidemic” of ransomware impacting commercial OT environments that is frequently mischaracterized as an IT-only incident, obscuring operational impact and hindering effective response. Dragos CEO Rob Lee attributed this to gaps in OT understanding within IT security teams and to insufficient collection of OT network telemetry needed to perform reliable root-cause analysis and accurately scope incidents.
The report also highlights concerning evolution in nation-state OT threat activity, describing a shift from basic initial-access efforts toward OT-focused reconnaissance and pre-positioning intended to enable future disruptive or real-world effects. Overall, Dragos frames the combination of limited OT visibility, misclassification of incidents, and increasingly purposeful nation-state operations as key risk drivers for organizations running industrial and other OT systems.
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Dragos publishes its 2025 annual OT threat review
On publication of its 2025 annual review, Dragos warned of a 'silent epidemic' of ransomware affecting commercial OT, widespread lack of OT telemetry, and common use of identity abuse to compromise systems supporting OT continuity. The report also said regulatory improvements such as CIRCIA and bulk electric system requirements may help, but will take years to fully mature.
Nation-state OT intrusions shift to reconnaissance and pre-positioning
During 2025, Dragos observed nation-state OT intrusions evolving from initial access activity toward reconnaissance of OT systems and pre-positioning for disruptive or destructive effects inside industrial control environments. The report highlights this as a significant escalation in attacker intent and tradecraft.
Ransomware targeting industrial organizations rises in 2025
Dragos' 2025 annual review says ransomware activity against industrial organizations increased sharply during 2025. The report argues many of these incidents likely affected operational technology environments but were often characterized publicly as IT-only events.
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Mar 21, 2026
Rising OT Threat From Credential Abuse and 'Living-off-the-Plant' Techniques
Security reporting and expert commentary warn that **operational technology (OT)** environments remain highly exposed due to fragile access controls and that attacker capability is trending toward more dangerous, process-aware operations. Lessons drawn from the 2015 **Ukraine power grid** disruption emphasize that remote connectivity, vendor access, and broad VPN permissions can become the “soft underbelly” of critical infrastructure, with recurring real-world examples of disruption tied to **misused remote access and stolen credentials** (including the **Colonial Pipeline** shutdown following a compromised password). The core takeaway is that OT systems are no longer “too specialized” to be targeted, and that common enterprise intrusion paths—credential compromise and remote access abuse—continue to translate into operational impact when they bridge into industrial environments. Separately, OT-focused threat analysis highlights early signs that attackers are gaining the “process comprehension” historically missing from many intrusions into industrial systems. A forthcoming RSA Conference 2026 presentation is expected to demonstrate **“living-off-the-plant”** techniques—analogous to living-off-the-land in IT—where adversaries leverage native industrial tooling and legitimate functions inside plants to blend in and potentially manipulate physical processes. The reporting argues that “security by obscurity” (attackers’ unfamiliarity with bespoke/legacy OT) has limited the severity of many incidents so far, but that this advantage is eroding as adversaries become more comfortable operating within industrial environments, increasing the risk of more consequential OT attacks.
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Threat Reports Highlight Identity Abuse and OT Intrusions as Primary Initial Access Vectors
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