Cyber War - a serious threat (Image credit: The Daily Caller) The stable relationship between the United States, Russia andChina, means there seems little chance of they will try to disruptone another's energy networks any time soon. But Iran has beenbombarded with cyber bugs during its intense nuclear standoff withthe west, with the virus known as Flame detected in April and aworm called Duqu, designed to gather intelligence on industrialinfrastructure for future attacks, found last year. Espionage The United States is by far the biggest source of general maliciousactivity on the internet, data from anti-virus software makerSymantec Corp indicates, but targeted industrial espionage largelycomes from Asia. "Targeted attacks are increasing dramatically. Itcould be state sponsored or it could be just hacktivists or itcould be a cyber criminal organisation.
But we know the number onetarget is government institutions and the second is manufacturing,including oil and gas," Bulent Teksoz, Symantec's chief securitystrategist for emerging markets said. According to data from theRepository of Industrial Security Incidents, power andtransportation companies see the greatest number of major cybersecurity problems. Most of those incidents result in some loss ofproduction or equipment control. Until Stuxnet, breaking intosupervisory control and data acquisition (Scada) systems runningmost of the world's industry was thought to be beyond most hackers.
Thanks to its groundbreaking code now leaked and freely availableon internet, any competent cyber criminal group could use it tospear Scada security that controls vital infrastructure around theworld. "Stuxnet does provide a delivery vehicle, for non stateactors to use, that is a direct threat to critical infrastructure,"said Alexander Klimburg, senior cyber security adviser at theAustrian Institute for International Affairs. "They have to go anddevelop their own warhead but you have given them a cruisemissile... It's perfectly possible that Stuxnet could be adaptedfor cyber terrorism purposes and that is a real concern." Byres,who designed the leading industrial firewall system, said thatalthough the original cyber weapon targets Siemens systems whichcontrolled Iran's Natanz Horizontal Decanter Centrifuge , its parts could be adapted totake control of any industrial controller. It has had some impacton at least 22 other installations, including a U.S.
metalsfactory, he said. Cyber Cold War The mother of all Scada attacks is believed to have occurred 30years ago, when the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is said tohave used a "logic bomb" to blow up a Siberian gas pipeline.According a book by former senior U.S. intelligence officer ThomasReed, after discovering the KGB was trying to steal pipelinecontrol software, the CIA planted a version that would cause thesystem to over pressurize and let the Soviets have it. U.S.President Barack Obama warned in 2009 that "cyber intruders" wereprobing the U.S.
power network and that foreign intelligenceservices were behind some intrusions. In March the U.S. Departmentof Homeland Security identified a series of attacks on natural gaspipeline operators. "We believe it is only a matter of time beforesomeone employs capabilities that could cause significantdisruption to civilian or government networks and to our criticalinfrastructure," General Keith Alexander, head of the U.S.
CyberCommand, told a senate committee hearing on March 27. A U.S. Department of Defense report said this month that cyberspying was done by intelligence services, private sector companies,and individuals from dozens of countries, but that it expectedChina to remain an "aggressive and capable" collector. "Chineseattempts to collect U.S.
technological and economic informationwill continue at a high level and will represent a growing andpersistent threat to U.S. economic security." U.S. cyber defensechief General Alexander told the committee that Chinese hackerswere responsible for a raid in early 2011 on RSA, makers of theSecureID system used by many large companies to access privatenetworks. The codes and control servers used in the U.S.
gas gridattacks match those used to break into RSA, Byres said. Night Dragon, so called because U.S. security firm McAfee noticedthe data raids took place from Beijing-based IP addresses onweekdays from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Beijing time, was the first knowncoordinated attacks on global energy companies. Night Dragon,reported in 2009, focused on stealing information on potential oiland gas reserves and new technologies from western energycompanies, valuable information for rivals competing forexploration licenses around the world. Modern "digital drillingrigs" with their multiple external connections to critical onboardsystems, and the roll out of "smart meter" systems linkingconsumers and power generators via two way communication lines, arenew potential weak spots.
"The attackers are getting more skilledand we are increasing the vulnerability," Justin Lowe, an energysecurity specialist at PA Consulting Group told the conference. "Weare putting more systems out there which are attackable." REUTERS.
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But we know the number onetarget is government institutions and the second is manufacturing,including oil and gas," Bulent Teksoz, Symantec's chief securitystrategist for emerging markets said. According to data from theRepository of Industrial Security Incidents, power andtransportation companies see the greatest number of major cybersecurity problems. Most of those incidents result in some loss ofproduction or equipment control. Until Stuxnet, breaking intosupervisory control and data acquisition (Scada) systems runningmost of the world's industry was thought to be beyond most hackers.
Thanks to its groundbreaking code now leaked and freely availableon internet, any competent cyber criminal group could use it tospear Scada security that controls vital infrastructure around theworld. "Stuxnet does provide a delivery vehicle, for non stateactors to use, that is a direct threat to critical infrastructure,"said Alexander Klimburg, senior cyber security adviser at theAustrian Institute for International Affairs. "They have to go anddevelop their own warhead but you have given them a cruisemissile... It's perfectly possible that Stuxnet could be adaptedfor cyber terrorism purposes and that is a real concern." Byres,who designed the leading industrial firewall system, said thatalthough the original cyber weapon targets Siemens systems whichcontrolled Iran's Natanz Horizontal Decanter Centrifuge , its parts could be adapted totake control of any industrial controller. It has had some impacton at least 22 other installations, including a U.S.
metalsfactory, he said. Cyber Cold War The mother of all Scada attacks is believed to have occurred 30years ago, when the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is said tohave used a "logic bomb" to blow up a Siberian gas pipeline.According a book by former senior U.S. intelligence officer ThomasReed, after discovering the KGB was trying to steal pipelinecontrol software, the CIA planted a version that would cause thesystem to over pressurize and let the Soviets have it. U.S.President Barack Obama warned in 2009 that "cyber intruders" wereprobing the U.S.
power network and that foreign intelligenceservices were behind some intrusions. In March the U.S. Departmentof Homeland Security identified a series of attacks on natural gaspipeline operators. "We believe it is only a matter of time beforesomeone employs capabilities that could cause significantdisruption to civilian or government networks and to our criticalinfrastructure," General Keith Alexander, head of the U.S.
CyberCommand, told a senate committee hearing on March 27. A U.S. Department of Defense report said this month that cyberspying was done by intelligence services, private sector companies,and individuals from dozens of countries, but that it expectedChina to remain an "aggressive and capable" collector. "Chineseattempts to collect U.S.
technological and economic informationwill continue at a high level and will represent a growing andpersistent threat to U.S. economic security." U.S. cyber defensechief General Alexander told the committee that Chinese hackerswere responsible for a raid in early 2011 on RSA, makers of theSecureID system used by many large companies to access privatenetworks. The codes and control servers used in the U.S.
gas gridattacks match those used to break into RSA, Byres said. Night Dragon, so called because U.S. security firm McAfee noticedthe data raids took place from Beijing-based IP addresses onweekdays from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Beijing time, was the first knowncoordinated attacks on global energy companies. Night Dragon,reported in 2009, focused on stealing information on potential oiland gas reserves and new technologies from western energycompanies, valuable information for rivals competing forexploration licenses around the world. Modern "digital drillingrigs" with their multiple external connections to critical onboardsystems, and the roll out of "smart meter" systems linkingconsumers and power generators via two way communication lines, arenew potential weak spots.
"The attackers are getting more skilledand we are increasing the vulnerability," Justin Lowe, an energysecurity specialist at PA Consulting Group told the conference. "Weare putting more systems out there which are attackable." REUTERS.
Our website provides a great deal of high quality products, such as Industrial Bag Filters. If you're interested, welcome to visit Horizontal Decanter Centrifuge to get more detailed information!