Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 8 (UNI) The recent hybrid strike on Venezuela, which combined cyber operations with disruptions to critical operational technology (OT) systems, signals a new phase in modern conflict and holds key lessons for India, industrial cybersecurity engineers from Intelegrid have warned.
Intelegrid experts said the incident did not follow the pattern of a conventional cyberattack aimed at data theft or permanent system damage.
Instead, it reflected a hybrid operational model focused on temporarily degrading critical services, undermining command-and-control confidence and achieving strategic objectives without prolonged kinetic engagement.
“Infrastructure disruption today is increasingly subtle, precisely timed and geographically scoped,” an Intelegrid industrial cybersecurity engineer said, noting that the Venezuela episode demonstrated how limited-duration interference with operational systems can create disproportionate political and societal impact.
The experts cautioned that India’s expanding reliance on digitally controlled and satellite-assisted infrastructure — including power grids, aviation, railways, ports, oil and gas facilities and emergency services — heightens its exposure to GPS spoofing and geofenced cyber operations.
Such techniques can selectively disrupt navigation, timing synchronisation and automation within defined geographic areas, often without triggering conventional cyber alarms.
Intelegrid engineers pointed out that GPS spoofing, time-signal manipulation and location-bound cyber effects have already been observed in various parts of the world and require close monitoring in India, particularly around strategic assets, border areas and major urban centres.
These attacks may not involve malware intrusions but can still degrade operational accuracy, safety margins and situational awareness.
Highlighting the limitations of conventional Security Operations Centres (SOCs), the experts said that while SOCs offer strong IT network visibility, they are often not equipped to detect threats exploiting physical dependencies such as timing signals, satellite navigation, engineering tolerances or location-based behaviour within OT environments.
To mitigate these risks, Intelegrid stressed the need to adopt Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) as a core security strategy.
CIE focuses on designing infrastructure systems that remain safe and controllable even when digital communications, GPS signals or satellite support are degraded or unavailable, through engineered fail-safe modes, manual operational capabilities and physical segmentation of critical systems.
“Resilience must be engineered, not assumed. Hybrid threats exploit design dependencies, not just software vulnerabilities,” an Intelegrid expert said.
According to Intelegrid, the Venezuela incident underlines the need for India to treat OT security, satellite dependency and timing integrity as national security priorities rather than isolated technical concerns.
As hybrid warfare increasingly targets civilian infrastructure to influence outcomes without overt conflict, engineering-led security approaches and continuous situational awareness will be vital to protecting India’s operational continuity and public trust.
