Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure

A digital graphic by PhishCloud about cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. The image features a stylized industrial scene with factories, smokestacks, and power grids in dark blue tones. On the right, a shield displays a map of the United States secured with a padlock, symbolizing protection of national infrastructure. The headline reads, “Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure: Lessons from Recent Attacks,” and the PhishCloud logo appears at the bottom with the tagline “Protect The Click. Defend The Core.”

When most people think of cyberattacks, they imagine stolen credit cards, leaked passwords, or hacked social media accounts. But in today’s world, the stakes are much higher. Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, water plants, power grids, transportation networks, and manufacturing lines, can cause physical damage, safety risks, and economic fallout that reverberates far beyond a single company.

Over the past three years, we’ve seen a steady drumbeat of incidents that highlight the fragility of operational technology (OT) systems:

• The Colonial Pipeline attack (2021): A ransomware incident forced the largest fuel pipeline operator in the U.S. to shut down operations for several days. The result? Panic buying, fuel shortages across the East Coast, and an estimated $4.4 million ransom paid just to regain functionality.
• The Oldsmar Water Plant breach (2021): Hackers remotely gained access to a Florida water treatment plant and attempted to poison the supply by increasing lye levels to toxic concentrations. The only reason disaster was avoided? An alert operator noticed the changes in real-time.
• Aliquippa Water Authority attack (2023): Iranian-backed hackers seized control of a water facility in Pennsylvania, displaying a politically charged message and forcing manual operations. It was a wake-up call: even small-town utilities are now on the front lines of cyber warfare.
• Viasat satellite hack (2022): During the early stages of the war in Ukraine, a cyberattack disrupted satellite communications across Europe, cutting off connectivity for military operations and civilians alike.

Each of these incidents exposes the same problem: legacy OT systems were never designed to handle modern cyber threats. Many run on decades-old protocols, lack authentication or encryption, and are increasingly connected to IT and cloud systems, creating bridges attackers exploit.

If you look closely at these attacks, you’ll notice a recurring theme: it’s not just about firewalls or patching. The real problem lies in silos and blind spots.

IT teams monitor the enterprise network.
OT teams keep the plant floor running.
Security operations centers (SOCs) drown in alerts without context.

When an attack hits, these groups often aren’t speaking the same language. That gap delays response, and in critical infrastructure, minutes of downtime can mean millions lost or lives at risk.

According to IBM’s 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report, it takes an average of 280 days to identify and contain a breach in industrial systems. Meanwhile, the Ponemon Institute reports that 70% of OT operators admit they lack complete visibility into their environments.

That combination, blind spots and delayed response, is exactly what modern attackers count on.

Here’s the good news: there’s a better way.

Cyber Fusion flips the script by uniting IT, OT, and the human layer into a single, coordinated defense model. Instead of siloed monitoring and fragmented playbooks, Cyber Fusion strategies bring everything together:

• Unified Visibility: A single source of truth across IT networks, OT systems, and user interactions.
• AI-Driven Threat Correlation: Detect lateral movement early by connecting signals across domains.
• Automated Response: Predefined playbooks cut response times in half, reducing downtime and risk.
• Compliance Built In: Automated workflows that track, document, and prove security posture without spreadsheets.

At PhishCloud, we built our Cyber Fusion Center (CFC) Strategies specifically for critical infrastructure. We don’t just layer another tool on top of your stack. We bring IT, OT, and human telemetry together, giving you the visibility and speed you need to stop attacks before they cascade.

The lesson from Colonial, Oldsmar, Aliquippa, and dozens of other incidents is clear: critical infrastructure can’t rely on fragmented defenses anymore.

PhishCloud CFC Strategies deliver the resilience modern OT environments demand, without disrupting uptime. Because when the factory floor goes dark, or the pumps stop running, it’s not just an IT issue. It’s a business crisis.

Ready to see how Cyber Fusion redefines resilience? Visit www.phishcloud.com/cyber-fusion-center to learn more or click HERE to schedule a CFC strategy call.