Critical Infrastructure Remains Vulnerable

While 2016 saw multiple examples of successful critical infrastructure attacks, the surface has only been scratched when it comes to securing industrial control and operational technology systems, said Galina Antova, co-founder of Claroty. Antova predicted that more vendors will launch related offerings in 2017 and 2018, with traditional vendors repurposing legacy solutions and new startups emerging. That's a trend we already started seeing in 2016, with dozens of security vendors launching new critical infrastructure-focused offerings and partnerships.

"We have already seen a number of vendors move in that direction," Antova said. However, she also warned that industrial control systems are challenging to secure and often include a long list of unique and proprietary network protocols, legacy devices and availability requirements, meaning many will need solution providers to provide custom solutions.