Moody's Gives 'Very High' Cyber Risk Designation to Telecom, Airline and Power Generation Utility Sectors

Mounting digitization and subpar security practices have prompted Moody's Rating to give the "very high" cyber risk designation to the telecommunications

Several critical infrastructure sectors have been assigned the "very high" cyber risk designation by Moody's Rating due to mounting digitization and subpar security practices, collectively amassing $7.1 trillion in debt, CyberScoop reports.

The telecommunications industry, in particular, has exhibited weaker cybersecurity defenses compared to other critical infrastructure sectors, according to Moody's analysts. This vulnerability was highlighted by the compromise of AT&T, Lumen Technologies, and Verizon by the Chinese state-backed threat operation Salt Typhoon. Another separate hack of AT&T impacted nearly all its customers' records. Additionally, data breaches against T-Mobile resulted in a $31.5 million settlement.

On the other hand, the CrowdStrike outage, which was caused by a faulty software update, led to an increased risk profile for the airline sector, underscoring the threat posed by extensive software dependence.

Moreover, automotive manufacturers, education organizations, manufacturing entities, energy providers, and ports also experienced an elevation in their risk profiles, which were now classified as "high."