- When Cyberattacks Pack a Physical Punch
February 18, 2019
Physical security goes hand in hand with cyberdefense. What happens when – as we see all too often – the physical side is overlooked? More than one in 10 data breaches now involve “physical actions,” according to a recent report. These include leveraging physical devices to aid an attack, but also hacks that involve breaking into hardware ...
- Siemens Warns of Critical Remote-Code Execution ICS Flaw
February 12, 2019
Siemens has released 16 security advisories for various industrial control and utility products, including a warning for a critical flaw in the WibuKey digital rights management (DRM) solution that affects the SICAM 230 process control system. SICAM 230 is used for a broad range of industrial control system (ICS) applications, including use as an integrated energy system for ...
- Newsmaker Interview: Bruce Schneier on Physical Cyber Threats
January 2, 2019
Bruce Schneier discusses the clash between critical infrastructure and cyber threats. Attacks on physical devices and infrastructure offer a new target for cyber crime, a new opportunity for espionage and even a few front in cyber war. Rather than exploit computers and their applications, the Internet of Things allows malicious actors to go after a whole new ...
- New industrial espionage campaign leverages AutoCAD-based malware
November 28, 2018
Security researchers have spotted a somewhat unique malware distribution campaign that targets companies using AutoCAD-based malware. Discovered by cyber-security firm Forcepoint, which shared its findings with ZDNet yesterday, the campaign appears to have been active since 2014, based on telemetry data the company has analyzed. Forcepoint says the group behind this recent campaign is most likely very sophisticated ...
- GreyEnergy APT Delivers Malware via Phishing Attacks and Multi-Stage Dropper
November 27, 2018
The highly complex backdoor malware payload designed by the GreyEnergy advanced persistent threat (APT) group is being dropped on targeted machines using the common phishing infection vector as detailed by Nozomi Networks’ Alessandro Di Pinto. GreyEnergy attacked and infiltrated the networks of multiple critical infrastructure targets from Eastern Europe, from Poland and Ukraine, with other objectives ...
- Siemens Patches Firewall Flaw That Put Operations at Risk
November 14, 2018
The industrial company on Tuesday released mitigations for eight vulnerabilities overall. Siemens AG on Tuesday issued a slew of fixes addressing eight vulnerabilities spanning its industrial product lines. The most serious of the patched flaws include a cross-site scripting vulnerability in Siemens’ SCALANCE firewall product. The flaw could allow an attacker to gain unauthorized access to ...
- Cisco zero-day exploited in the wild to crash and reload devices
November 1, 2018
The Cisco security team has revealed earlier the existence of a zero-day vulnerability affecting products that run Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) software. The vulnerability has been exploited in the wild, according to a security advisory the company published a few hours ago. No patches are available at the time of writing. Cisco says it ...
- Utilities, Energy Sector Attacked Mainly Via IT, Not ICS
November 1, 2018
Stealing administrative credentials to carry out months-long spy campaigns is a top threat. While industrial control systems (ICS) are the most talked-about when it comes to cyberattacks against energy and utilities firms, most attacks actually take aim at the enterprise IT networks used by these organizations, rather than critical infrastructure itself. The Vectra 2018 Spotlight Report on Energy and ...
- New Stuxnet Variant Allegedly Struck Iran
October 31, 2018
A malware similar in nature to Stuxnet but more aggressive and sophisticated allegedly hit the infrastructure and strategic networks in Iran. Details about the supposed new attack are superficial at the moment, as there are no details about the supposed attack, the damage it caused or its targets. A report on Wednesday from Israeli evening news bulletin ...
- IoT Flaw Allows Hijacking of Connected Construction Cranes
October 30, 2018
An attacker can send spoofed commands to the crane’s controller. A connected construction crane, from Telecrane, has a vulnerability that would allow cyberattackers to intercept its communications and take the equipment over. The internet of things (IoT) continues to add new types of objects to its footprint, as industries start leveraging connectivity to increase productivity, accuracy and ...
- Critical Infrastructure & Supply Chain Remain Highly Vulnerable to Attacks
October 24, 2018
This week, the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) reminds us that, “our day-to-day life depends on the country’s 16 sectors of critical infrastructure, which supply food, water, financial services, public health, communications and power along with other networks and systems. A disruption to this system, which is operated via the internet, can have significant and even catastrophic ...
- How Shodan helps identify ICS cybersecurity vulnerabilities
October 18, 2018
An industrial control system is essentially a collection of computers that monitor and control industrial systems. They make the world move and help with everything from food processing to transportation to running the espresso maker at your local Starbucks. The challenge is an industrial control system (ICS) can be readily attacked by advanced persistent threat groups, ...
- GreyEnergy: New malware campaign targets critical infrastructure companies
October 17, 2018
The hacking group which took down Ukrainian power grids is systematically targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine and beyond in what security researchers believe could be cyber espionage and reconnaissance ahead of future attacks. Dubbed GreyEnergy by researchers at ESET, the group is believed to have been active over the last three years and to be linked to ...
- An insider view of a cybersecurity training workshop for employees of Europe’s transmission system operators.
October 1, 2018
After the hackers had stealthily accessed the SCADA system and blew the transformer with a loud bang, the defenceless employees had no option but to remove the control plugs and manually turn the machine back on. “That’s what they had to do in Ukraine,” said Michael John, Director of Operations at the European Network for Cybersecurity (ENCS), referring to the world’s ...
- More than 40% of ICS computers were attacked in H1 2018
September 11, 2018
More than 40% of all industrial control system (ICS) computers protected by Kaspersky Lab solutions were attacked by malicious software at least once during the first half of 2018. The most impacted countries turned out to be Vietnam, Algeria and Sri Lanka, while the safest region for industrial machines was Denmark. These are among the ...
- Schneider Electric Modicon vulnerability impacts ICS operation in industrial settings
September 6, 2018
A security vulnerability discovered in Schneider Electric Modicon controllers has the potential to severely disrupt industrial equipment and networks. According to researchers from industrial cybersecurity firm Radiflow, the bug, tracked as CVE-2018-7789, “severely exposes the safety and availability of the ICS networks on which these devices were installed.” The vulnerability is present in the Schneider Electric Modicon M221 controller ...
- Cybersecurity researchers double SCADA vulnerability finds
September 3, 2018
Independent cybersecurity researchers found nearly double the number of vulnerabilities in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems in the first six months of 2018 as they did in the first half of 2017, according to a new report by Japanese multinational Trend Micro, amid rising concerns about infrastructure security. The 202 holes spotted in such ...
- Computer Virus Cripples IPhone Chipmaker TSMC Plants
August 4, 2018
A computer virus halted several Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.factories Friday night, dealing the company one of its most severe disruptions as it ramps up chipmaking for Apple Inc.’s next iPhones. The sole maker of the iPhone’s main processor said a number of its fabrication tools had been infected, and while it had contained the problem and resumed some ...
- IoT and malware top the worries list for industrial tech firms
July 3, 2018
Industrial players, like power plants, manufacturers or water treatment centres, are embracing IoT at a great pace, but failing to consider security issues, new research has said. A report by Kaspersky Lab has claimed that while these types of organisations turn more towards IoT, they’re not doing enough to protect these investments, which makes them a sitting duck ...
- Researchers warn SCADA systems are still hopelessly insecure
June 18, 2018
BSides Industrial control systems could be exposed not just to remote hackers, but to local attacks and physical manipulation as well. A presentation at last week’s BSides conference by researchers from INSINIA explained how a device planted on a factory floor can identify and list networks, and trigger controllers to stop processes or production lines. Read more… Source: The ...