A representative of Honeywell Process Solutions (Honeywell), which provides cybersecurity services for over 400 industrial sites worldwide, recently commented publicly that Honeywell is seeing an increase in nation-state and state sponsored attackers focusing on the industrial sector, which includes oil refineries, nuclear power plants, chemical and power plants, natural gas processors and mining and water treatment facilities.

The hackers are targeting the industrial facilities in an attempt to remotely control the site and gain access to the data. Honeywell has seen attacks in two-thirds of the 30 industrial sectors that it monitors. According to Honeywell, “We’ve seen that there’s definitely increasing exposure to what we call high-capability threat actors…Nation-state and sponsored attackers are definitely out there, and they’re definitely focusing on these industries.”