Moody’s Rating adds telecoms, airlines, utilities to highest risk category | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"The financial ratings service says industry digital reliance increases cyber risk.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/moodys-rating-high-risk-telecom-aviation-power\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Moody's Rating adds telecoms, airlines, utilities to highest risk category\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The financial ratings service says industry digital reliance increases cyber risk.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/moodys-rating-high-risk-telecom-aviation-power\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-12T21:59:39+00:00\"> <meta property=\"article:modified_time\" 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readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"23.067669172932\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"27.471698113208\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/cybersecurity\/\"> <span>Cybersecurity<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The financial ratings service says industry digital reliance increases cyber risk. <\/p>\n<p>   <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/moodys-rating-adds-telecoms-airlines-utilities-to-highest-risk-category.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/moodys-rating-adds-telecoms-airlines-utilities-to-highest-risk-category-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/moodys-rating-adds-telecoms-airlines-utilities-to-highest-risk-category-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/moodys-rating-adds-telecoms-airlines-utilities-to-highest-risk-category-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, 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https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/moodys-rating-adds-telecoms-airlines-utilities-to-highest-risk-category-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> Telecommunication tower during sunset. (Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"49.508095345177\"><body readability=\"99.991067117335\"><\/p>\n<p>The telecommunications industry, airlines, and some power generation utilities have elevated cyber risks due to digitization and lax security practices, according to a new report from Moody\u2019s Rating that places the sectors in the \u201chigh risk\u201d category.<\/p>\n<p>The financial ratings service released a <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/11\/Sector_In-Depth-Cybersecurity-Global-Our-heat-12Nov2024-PBC_1420289.pdf\">cyber heat map Tuesday<\/a> that looks at the risk profiles of 71 sectors globally and compares them to 2022. Moody\u2019s analysts found that the increasing reliance on digitization is a major factor for the increased cyber risk, as adoption adds new methods of attack for malicious hackers. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAcross the board, two main factors are driving these higher cyber risk scores: increased sector digitization, which introduces a more extensive digital footprint potentially more vulnerable to cyberattacks, and\/or below-average cyber risk mitigation practices,\u201d Steven Libretti, assistant vice president for Moody\u2019s Ratings, said in an emailed statement to CyberScoop.<\/p>\n<p>The score is based on an organization\u2019s exposure and ability to mitigate risk and is categorized as low, moderate, high, or very high.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The telecommunications sector moved to the highest risk profile not only because of increased digitization and importance, but because of the \u201cweaker defense practices\u201d compared to other critical sectors.<\/p>\n<p>Telecommunications has been under increased scrutiny in recent years, as successful attacks by both nation-backed and criminal hackers have increased. Earlier this fall, Chinese hackers known as Salt Typhoon were able to dive undetected into sensitive networks of at least three telecoms: <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/congress-salt-typhoon-hack-telecoms-att-lumen-verizon\/\">AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen<\/a>. The hackers were reportedly able to view court-ordered wiretaps, and members of Congress have called for briefings on the hacks.<\/p>\n<p>AT&T also announced in July <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/att-data-breach-snowflake\/\">that hackers obtained<\/a> six months of phone and text message records of \u201cnearly all\u201d of the company\u2019s customers.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission forced the telecom giant T-Mobile to pay a <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/t-mobile-fcc-settlement-data-breach\/\">$31.5 million fine in September<\/a> due to the number of repeated breaches that exposed customer information. Half of the fine is mandated to be spent on improving the company\u2019s security.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe breaches illustrate the critical challenges telecommunications companies face in safeguarding sensitive customer data against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks,\u201d the report notes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Moody\u2019s analysts also found that more than two-thirds of the industries scored globally are considered \u201chigh or very highly digitized.\u201d While increasing connectivity can add efficiency, the analysts warn that such dependencies are also creating a more complex supply chain, where hackers could access and disrupt essential services.<\/p>\n<p>The airline sector experienced such a disruption in July, when the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike sent a unintentionally malicious update that effectively bricked the drivers of thousands of Windows machines in the sector. Across the nation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyberscoop.com\/crowdstrike-falcon-flaw-microsoft-outage-flights-grounded-windows\/\">airplanes were grounded<\/a> as the technical chaos forced United, Delta, and American Airlines to cancel or delay flights.<\/p>\n<p>Moody\u2019s said that incidents like the faulty CrowdStrike update underscores the \u201ccritical dependence\u201d of software and the potential \u201cextensive ramifications\u201d when the technology fails for the airline sector. Moody\u2019s said the new \u201cvery high risk\u201d sectors \u201caccount for $7.1 trillion of debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While some utilities were already considered \u201cvery high risk,\u201d power generation projects have also been added to the list due to the increased digitization, the report notes.<\/p>\n<p>Additional sectors that are considered \u201chigh risk\u201d are: electric and gas distribution, water and wastewater utilities, regulated and self-regulated entities, power generation projects, unregulated utilities and power companies, and not-for-profit hospitals.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The report also found that 11 industries should be considered in the \u201chigh risk\u201d category, including: automobile manufacturers, education, manufacturing, energy, and ports. The increased cyber risks are also due to recent attacks, increased digitization, and lax defenses.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.6644736842105\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"9\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/moodys-rating-adds-telecoms-airlines-utilities-to-highest-risk-category-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Christian Vasquez\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Christian Vasquez<\/h4>\n<p> Christian covers industrial cybersecurity for CyberScoop News. He previously wrote for E&E News at POLITICO covering cybersecurity in the energy sector. 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{"id":6199,"date":"2024-11-12T15:59:39","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T21:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=82569"},"modified":"2024-11-12T15:59:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T21:59:39","slug":"moodys-rating-adds-telecoms-airlines-utilities-to-highest-risk-category","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/12\/moodys-rating-adds-telecoms-airlines-utilities-to-highest-risk-category\/","title":{"rendered":"Moody\u2019s Rating adds telecoms, airlines, utilities to highest risk category"},"content":{"rendered":"