Honeywell Technologies has released its 2026 Operational Technology (OT) Cybersecurity Benchmark Report, highlighting a disconnect between organisations’ perception of cybersecurity maturity and their actual operational readiness across critical infrastructure. Based on a survey of more than 600 global industrial cybersecurity leaders, the report found that 88 per cent described their OT cybersecurity programmes as mature, while only 21 per cent reported having a complete inventory of their OT assets.

Organisations experienced an average of 16.2 hours of downtime from their most significant cybersecurity incidents, with losses of up to $500,000 per hour. Meanwhile, 99 per cent of respondents expect AI to affect OT security within the next two to three years, while only 23 per cent reported using autonomous or agentic operations for threat detection.

“As cyber threats increasingly impact physical operations, resilience depends on extending cybersecurity across every connected system that supports uptime and business continuity,” said Jim Masso, President and CEO, Honeywell Technologies Process Automation. “Organisations can no longer afford to have this visibility gap.”

Despite widespread confidence in cybersecurity programmes, significant visibility gaps remain across operational environments. Only 33 per cent of organisations surveyed have fully integrated OT into a centralised security operations centre, while just 20 per cent continuously monitor connected IoT devices such as cameras and sensors.

The survey also revealed significant threat findings across industries:

- Energy & Utilities: 91 per cent reported experiencing a significant OT cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months.

- Maritime: 87 per cent reported experiencing a significant OT cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months.

- Oil & Gas: 54 per cent of energy and utilities respondents reported experiencing a significant OT cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months.

- Healthcare: Only 19 per cent said facility and building systems are fully integrated into cybersecurity monitoring and protection.

The survey’s findings suggest that organisations with stronger visibility are four times better positioned to identify threats, respond to incidents and restore operations more quickly. Respondents indicated that cyber incidents are no longer viewed solely as technology events, but as operational issues that can affect employee safety, customer service and production continuity.