Data Center Cyber‑Physical Systems Face Widespread Security Gaps
A new Claroty study of more than 750,000 cyber‑physical components in the world’s largest data centers found that one in five such systems is exposed to serious security risks. Power distribution units account for 41 % of the most vulnerable components, while HVAC and cooling systems represent 32 %. In total, 88 % of building‑management systems communicate over insecure protocols and 40 % run outdated firmware. Over 80 % of OT control, power‑monitoring and IoT systems rely on legacy protocols such as BACnet and Modbus, and 23 % of IoT devices already contain known, actively exploited vulnerabilities.
Claroty’s CTO Amir Preminger urges operators to adopt a four‑pillar defence strategy: continuous exposure management, zero‑trust network segmentation, hardening of legacy building‑management systems, and protocol‑based threat detection.
The findings underline the critical need for stronger cyber‑physical security measures across data‑center infrastructure worldwide.
Entities: Amir Preminger · Anubis ransomware group · Claroty · Data centers · Dmitri Belotchkine · Fairlife · HVAC systems · Power distribution units · TXOne Networks
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 2 SOURCES] 88 % of building‑management systems communicate via insecure protocols. (Claroty report)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Claroty recommends a four‑pillar defence: continuous exposure management, zero‑trust network segmentation, hardening of legacy building‑management systems, and protocol‑based threat detection. (Claroty report)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Power distribution units represent 41 % of the most exposed or one‑step‑away components in data centers. (Claroty report)
- [● 2 SOURCES] 40 % of building‑management systems run outdated firmware. (Claroty report)
- [● 2 SOURCES] 23 % of IoT devices in data centers have known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). (Claroty report)
- [● 2 SOURCES] One in five cyber‑physical systems in large data centers has serious security gaps. (Claroty report)
- [● 2 SOURCES] More than 80 % of OT control, power‑monitoring and IoT systems use legacy insecure protocols like BACnet and Modbus. (Claroty report)
- [● 2 SOURCES] HVAC and cooling systems account for 32 % of the exposed or near‑exposed components. (Claroty report)