The impacts of control system incidents are obvious, but their causes are usually less clear, especially when they might be cyber-related. However, control system cyber incidents have impacted the behavior and operation of ships as well as other critical infrastructures. GPS hacks have altered ships’ positions and displays. Some Chinese critical infrastructure such as port […]
Category: Transportation
Cyber-related rail incidents have killed more than 490
Most rail cyber incidents have been IT cyberattacks. Existing government and industry cyber security guidelines have focused on these IT issues. The government and industry cyber security guidelines have often failed to address the control system cyber issues that have resulted in catastrophic control system cyber rail incidents. There have been more than fifty control […]
Differences between IT and control system cyber incidents in maritime
Researchers at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands have launched the Maritime Cyber Attack Database (MCAD). MCAD includes information on over 160 cyber incidents in the maritime industry. When compared to my database of control system cyber incidents, the MCAD database was missing the cases where control system cyber-related incidents caused physical […]
Surface transportation is cyber vulnerable and control system issues are not adequately addressed
May 25, 2023, I gave a presentation to the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Enterprise Cybersecurity Working Group (ECSWG) and Control and Communications Security Working Group (CCSWG) teleconference on “Undetected ICS Cyber Incidents”. The general status was the same as for oil/gas, electric, nuclear power, water/wastewater, medical devices, etc. That is, the focus being on […]
Process sensors are different than IOT and IIOT devices
December 2022, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued Critical Infrastructure Actions Needed to Better Secure Internet-Connected Devices (GAO-23-105327). According to GAO, the scope of the report was governed by a legislative mandate in The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020, which (along with conversations with GAO’s Congressional clients), which dictated the terms […]
There’s more to control system cybersecurity than IT and OT networks – TSA is missing that distinction
Control system cyber incidents affecting pipelines, rail, and aviation have caused catastrophic damage resulting in multi-billion-dollar impacts and hundreds of deaths. Detecting cyberattacks against IT and OT networks can be done today. However, the same cannot be said for detecting control system cyber incidents (attacks and unintentional incidents) that occur with the cyber insecure control […]
TSA cyber security requirements are still not addressing control system-unique issues
The new TSA cyber security requirements developed based on the Colonial Pipeline event will require timely identification and notification of cyberattacks. There have been more than 50 control system cyber incidents in natural gas and liquid pipeline systems yet only the Colonial Pipeline incident has been identified as being a cyber incident (cyberattack). Detecting cyberattacks […]
The Colonial Pipeline cyberattack – Did IT/OT convergence contribute to the attack
After having done the analysis of the Bellingham, WA Olympic Pipeline rupture that killed 3 people for NIST, I expected the Colonial Pipeline hack to be an OT incident affecting the SCADA system and potentially causing pipe leaks or pipe ruptures. However, that does not appear to be the issue in this case. Darkside’s malware […]
Was the Ever Given hacked in the Suez Canal?
This blog is speculative as there is little public information about what caused the Ever Given to run aground in the Suez Canal. I find it curious that a newer ship could have had the technical problems (which could have been caused by a cyberattack) at just the time the ship could entirely block the […]
Observations from 2021 SANS ICS Cyber Security Conference
The 2021 SANS ICS Cyber Security Conference was held March 4-5, 2021 with almost 9,000 registrants globally. The Conference thoroughly addressed OT networking issues. However, cyber security issues associated with Level 0,1 devices were not as adequately understood and addressed. There was also almost no discussion of the hardware backdoors in the Chinese-made transformers. My […]