Posted on 07/24/2020 7:21:16 PM PDT by bitt
The U.S. National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have issued a joint alert urging critical infrastructure operators to take immediate measures to reduce the exposure of operational technology (OT) systems to cyberattacks.
The NSA and CISA say it’s imperative that critical infrastructure asset owners and operators secure industrial control systems (ICS) and other OT systems due to the high risk of cyberattacks launched by foreign threat actors.
The agencies say industrial systems are being increasingly exposed to the internet for remote operations and monitoring purposes, expanding the outsourcing of key skill areas, and accommodating a remote workforce.
The risk of successful attacks is also increased by the use of legacy ICS that was not designed with security in mind, the availability of scanners such as Shodan and Kamerka, and the availability of exploitation tools.
“Due to the increase in adversary capabilities and activity, the criticality to U.S. national security and way of life, and the vulnerability of OT systems, civilian infrastructure makes attractive targets for foreign powers attempting to do harm to U.S. interests or retaliate for perceived U.S. aggression. OT assets are critical to the Department of Defense (DoD) mission and underpin essential National Security Systems (NSS) and services, as well as the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and other critical infrastructure,” the alert reads.
It continues, “At this time of heightened tensions, it is critical that asset owners and operators of critical infrastructure take the following immediate steps to ensure resilience and safety of U.S. systems should a time of crisis emerge in the near term.”
(Excerpt) Read more at securityweek.com ...
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I am of the opinion that if you are waiting for the government to tell you that you need to secure your systems ... you are WAY behind.
Full disclosure - I get paid to hack banks
ping
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