Physical security breaches escalate as cybercriminals target building systems

Cybercriminals increasingly attack physical infrastructure beyond data theft, threatening safety and increasing risks to people and assets.

Cybercriminals have shifted from stealing digital data to directly compromising physical building systems, creating new vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. French grocery stores faced refrigeration system breaches affecting thousands of remote-controlled units in October 2026, while Canadian hospitals experienced building management disruptions in August 2026. Industrial targets show a sharp escalation: ransomware attacks against organizations grew 49.5% in 2023 and surged 87% in 2024. ServiceNow's Armis Labs report reveals 73% of organizations using building automation systems (BAS) were exploited in ransomware attacks, with 91% of those systems employing insecure communication protocols. This trend directly threatens physical safety—food supply chains, healthcare facilities, and public spaces become more fragile as cyberattacks bypass digital defenses to disable physical systems. The consequences mean basic security needs become more vulnerable to disruption, particularly for communities reliant on critical infrastructure. What to watch: The accelerating industrial ransomware surge (87% growth in 2024) and the French incident described as occurring in October 2026—a future date relative to this reporting—highlight how these threats are expanding beyond current incident counts. Dragos' attack claims may also be unverified, and the Las Vegas casino outage described as 'three years ago' from the October 2026 publication date reflects the evolving timeline of such incidents. This trend makes physical security a growing friction point for universal safety access.

Source: The Register