[Ics-security] Threats to Control Systems

[Kelly Mahoney]

Hacking in to high visibility control systems is growing 
exponentially.   Although General Alexander (Head of NSA and US Cyber 
Command) mentioned water, power, and communications, the threat extends 
to all key infrastructure - to include the US National Labs.  Control 
systems are an easy target for both the amateur looking for cyber cred, 
the entrepreneur looking to sell vulnerability info,  and government 
sponsored entities looking to probe and exploit weaknesses.

Kelly Mahoney

/As posted on Government Computing News (GCN)

"DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: July 26, 2012 in the NY Times

ASPEN, Colo. --- The top American military official responsible for 
defending the United States against cyberattacks said Thursday that 
there had been a 17-fold increase in computer attacks on American 
infrastructure between 2009 and 2011, initiated by criminal gangs, 
hackers and other nations....America's electricity grids, water 
supplies, computer and cellphone networks and other infrastructure are 
coming under attack. Those attacks are considered potentially far more 
serious than computer espionage or financial crimes."


"By John Breeden II
Jul 27, 2012
Recently we have seen phishing scams that begin in the private sector 
make the jump to specifically target federal employees. In one case, 
attackers targeting Gmail accounts gained access to the accounts of U.S. 
government officials.

Phishing, in fact, is by far the most common means of attack in federal 
networks, so every fed should be aware of the latest trends in these 
areas in case the attacks are aimed again at the government.

To an attentive user, many phishing e-mails can be easy to spot --- poor 
grammar, typos, dodgy e-mail addresses and absurd scenarios being some 
of the tip-offs --- but some of them still get through anyway."
/

-- 

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