Page 220 - Cyber Defense eMagazine September 2025

IoMT goes a step further by networking such devices via the internet or internal industrial networks such
that they enable real-time data gathering, analytics, remote monitoring, and even autonomous decision-
making.

Examples include:

• Intelligent sensors monitoring temperature, vibration, and wear

• Product-delivering AGVs

• Robot assembly lines with adaptive capabilities that adjust in real-time to production schedules

• Digital twins simulating and optimizing manufacturing processes

All this equipment makes productivity greater but also leaves vulnerabilities in one machine to impact the
whole system.

Why Are CPS and IoMT Targets?

1. Critical Assets: Factory equipment is likely to produce mission-critical components in aerospace,
automotive, and defense sectors. Supply chain interruption or IP theft has disastrous economic and
geopolitics consequences.

2. Legacy Systems: Legacy equipment without security in their design are common in most factories.
The devices may have obsolete software or no authentication whatsoever, making them a priority target.

3. Varied Attack Surface: CPS unites IT and Operational Technology (OT), which is typically managed
by different teams with different security policies. It's hard to implement uniform security policies.

4. Increasing Connectivity: The demand for cloud integration, remote connections, and vendor relations
expands the perimeter, presenting multiple points of attack to the adversary.

The Threat Landscape

Ransomware and Disruption

Ransomware now affects office networks no longer. In 2021, a global food processing behemoth was its
production lines paralyzed by a ransomware attack for days, resulting in shockwaves through supply
chains globally. Cyberattackers target manufacturing systems in order to be able to exert maximum
pressure and demand huge ransoms.

Industrial Espionage

Intellectual property and trade secrets are sought to be stolen by nation-states and cybercriminals.
Exposed IoMT devices can be used as covert spy gadgets or as vectors for long-term data exfiltration.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – September 2025 Edition 220
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