CISOs say OT will survive a cyberattack, but their engineers aren’t so sure
CISOs are confident OT systems can survive cyberattacks, but engineers are less sure, according to a SANS survey.
A SANS 2026 ICS/OT survey reveals a significant disconnect between industrial security chiefs and their engineers regarding operational technology (OT) resilience during cyberattacks. While 100% of surveyed CISOs believe their plants would continue running, engineers are far less optimistic, with only 15% confident critical processes could sustain safe production manually for over 48 hours. The survey also noted a 1.7x increase in ICS/OT cyber incidents compared to the previous year, with slower detection times and a lack of routine technical testing by leadership.
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The lesson from this incident
Full lessonThe SANS 2026 ICS/OT survey exposes a dangerous disconnect between executive perception and operational reality in industrial cybersecurity: while CISOs universally believe their plants could survive a cyberattack, only 15% of engineers share that confidence for sustained manual operations beyond 48 hours. This gap suggests that leadership assumptions about OT resilience are not being validated through hands-on technical testing or realistic tabletop exercises. Meanwhile, a 1.7x year-over-year rise in ICS/OT incidents combined with slower detection times means threats are growing faster than defensive capabilities. When leaders don't engage with the technical realities their engineers face, critical gaps in business continuity planning go unaddressed until a real incident exposes them catastrophically.
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