PHYSICAL VULNERABILITY OF CYBER SYSTEMS: ANALYSIS OF INCIDENTS, RISK FACTORS AND SECURITY STRATEGIES

Abstract

Physical security is an essential component of cybersecurity risk management because many cyber and operational technology systems depend on protected facilities, equipment, power supply, communication links and environmental conditions. This paper revises the analysis of physical vulnerability in cyber systems by distinguishing direct physical compromise from cyber incidents that produce physical consequences. A qualitative incident-based methodology is applied to selected cases from 2020 to 2024 and to recent cyber-physical security literature. The method includes source screening, inclusion and exclusion criteria, incident coding by physical vector, affected asset, impact and dependency, and a reproducible ordinal risk score. The results systematize incidents into five categories: direct physical attacks on infrastructure, environmental disruption, compromise of physical-security platforms, compromise of operational technology with physical consequences, and hybrid cyber-physical scenarios. The paper proposes a methodological framework for assessing such incidents and maps the main risk factors to practical security strategies. The findings show that physical vulnerability should not be reduced to facility protection alone; it should be treated as a combined governance, engineering and incident-response problem linking physical access, operational technology, cyber monitoring and business continuity.