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Cyber threats impact all industries

Ransomware attacks and security breaches on industrial control systems are becoming the “new normal” for manufacturers, who now understand what weaponized software can do.

WannaCry malware is just one example of 'weaponized software' that can cause massive destruction across multiple industries
WannaCry malware is just one example of "weaponized software" that can cause massive destruction across multiple industries

Last month’s news that Russian threat actors have penetrated industrial control systems (ICS) of U.S. critical infrastructure and some manufacturing sites, have the U.S. government and other targeted entities in energy, water and aviation reexamining how to thwart what could be an imminent strike.

To that end, I can’t help but wonder if last week’s SamSam and WannaCry malware attacks on the city of Atlanta and Boeing respectively, represent the new normal. We now operate in what can turn into a hostile digital domain where “weaponized software” can cause massive destruction or loss of intellectual property.

Of course, malware is not a new concept. But with the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) and organizations digitizing operations internally and across supply chains, there are more avenues of entry for these malicious actors. And, while the information revealed in the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) TA18-074A Alert calls out critical infrastructure and manufacturing sectors like primary metal, machinery, electrical equipment and transportation industries as targets, any industry segment can fall victim to this virtual form of violence.

In Dave Greenfield’s article “The Infiltration of U.S. Control Systems,” a number of industry experts weighed in on what the cybersecurity US-CERT alert means to Automation World readers. Because, even though the focus is mainly on U.S. energy facilities, “really, any manufacturer and processor is fair game,” said Barak Perelman, co-founder and CEO of Indegy, a cybersecurity technology supplier. “Recently we have seen concerning trends and activity at water facilities and in the food and beverage, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.”

Shutting down a food manufacturing process or disrupting a pharmaceutical supply chain may not cause life-threating explosions or impact power grids, but it can be costly and damaging in other ways.

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