Kaspersky Flags Industrial Risk in Latin America

eSemanal reported, citing Kaspersky, that 27% of Latin American oil, gas and energy companies suffered incidents linked to insufficient cybersecurity investment. The same coverage repeated an indicator showing that 20.4% of ICS computers were affected by malicious objects, placing that risk in the context of IoT adoption, automation, advanced analytics and remote monitoring. No specific attacks or identified victims were described.

What indicators were reported for the region?

The eSemanal story gathered figures attributed to Kaspersky on the exposure of industrial and energy companies in Latin America. Among the data cited was the claim that 27% of companies in the oil, gas and energy sector suffered incidents tied to insufficient security investment, along with the 20.4% figure for ICS computers affected by malicious objects.

The article did not say which organizations were involved and did not provide evidence of a specific incident. It did place those indicators in the context of broader operational digitization, with more IoT, automation, advanced analytics and remote monitoring in industrial environments.

What did the coverage add about defense spending?

Sociedad Noticias repeated the same indicators attributed to Kaspersky and added percentages on reported investment plans from organizations in the sector. According to that piece, 45% would consider hiring IT specialists, 53% would invest in detection tools and training, and 32% would prioritize endpoint protection and cloud security services.

That report also did not confirm any sector-specific incidents. It focused on readiness levels and planned spending rather than verified cases of intrusion or disruption at Latin American facilities.

What did the report say about industrial control environments?

Head Topics Argentina summarized a story about potential disruptions in factories and attributed to Kaspersky's industrial CERT an assessment that Latin America was the second-most exposed region in control environments. It also pointed to email as a common entry vector.

That reference did not allow independent verification of the methodology used, and it did not document a concrete attack against a Latin American facility. The result reads as an exposure warning, not a record of a confirmed event in the region.