Industrial Firms Overestimate Remote Access Security

A global study of 400 senior leaders in manufacturing and critical infrastructure reveals a significant "confidence-to-evidence gap" in security. While most organizations rate their visibility and regulatory readiness as high, the data shows full vendor session auditability is uncommon, suggesting assurance is often overstated. Vendor access is the most significant risk surface in industrial environments. The likelihood of a security incident increases sharply with the number of vendors, especially when session visibility is limited and credential hygiene is poor. More than half of ransomware incidents in 2024 were traced back to compromised remote access services like VPNs and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Many industrial organizations use a fragmented collection of remote access tools, with 55% employing four or more different solutions. This "vendor sprawl" creates inconsistent audit trails and visibility gaps that security policies alone cannot close. The structure of the remote access environment is the strongest predictor of security maturity. Operational technology (OT) systems present unique challenges, as many were designed without security in mind and cannot support modern controls like encryption or advanced authentication. These legacy systems often have a 20 to 30-year lifespan and cannot be taken offline for comprehensive security overhauls, making them persistent vulnerabilities. Flat network architectures, common in OT environments, pose another serious risk. Without proper network segmentation, an attacker who compromises a single remote access point can move laterally to access critical control systems, increasing the risk of widespread disruption. To mitigate these risks, experts recommend a shift toward Zero Trust security models, which eliminate implicit trust and enforce strict access controls. Adopting unified, OT-specific remote access platforms has been shown to improve session visibility, strengthen audit trails, and reduce incident exposure. Regulatory pressure is also increasing globally, pushing organizations to provide demonstrable evidence of security controls, such as complete session records and identity-based access.