Top 5 Predictions for ICS Security in 2018

Nozomi Networks has comprised the top 5 predictions for ICS Security in 2018.

1. ICS malware moves beyond Windows exploits to ICS-specific malware. Up to now, most malware that has infected ICS have used Windows vulnerabilities or protocols to infect and spread. For example, in 2017, WannaCry, Industroyer and Dragonfly 2 all used the Windows protocol, SMB, as a key infection and proliferation mechanism. Malware attacks using OT device software, such as PLC software, will start to occur adding to the sea of Windows-dependent attacks.

2.The cuffs will come off of Internet connectivity for ICS systems as IT technology is increasingly integrated with ICS systems to achieve operational efficiencies.  Progressive companies will implement new technologies and procedures necessary to not only bridge IT and OT, but also to defend their ICS from this source of cyber threats.

3. Artificial intelligence becomes more mainstream for ICS systems to provide next generation security to fight cyber threats. Organizations grappling with ICS cybersecurity staffing and skills shortages are turning to AI solutions to achieve security and productivity goals. AI powered monitoring tools are now able to discover breaches automatically and provide information on remediation.

4. The shortage of ICS cybersecurity skills will open the door for vendors to provide full security services. These services will move beyond risk assessments to become more full service.

5. Security-by-Design will start to improve ICS Security.  Major companies will increase their demands that security be included in new automation equipment purchases; for example, requiring that RTUs have encrypted software. Cybersecurity certification will also rapidly grow and major automation vendors will have their products tested for the ISA Secure certification.

For more, see these books:

Cyber Security for Industrial Control Systems: From the Viewpoint of Close-Loop

Cybersecurity for Industrial Control Systems: SCADA, DCS, PLC, HMI, and SIS

96 Percent of IT Security Professionals Expect an Increase in Cybersecurity Attacks on Industrial Internet of Things

Study reveals most organizations take additional precautions to secure IIoT

Portland, Ore. – March 13, 2017 – Tripwire, Inc. today announced the results of a study conducted in partnership with Dimensional Research. The study looked at the rise of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) deployment in organizations, and to what extent it is expected to cause security problems in 2017.  

IIoT are the connected devices in critical infrastructure segments such as energy, utilities, government, healthcare and finance. Tripwire’s study revealed that:

• Ninety-six percent of those surveyed expect to see an increase in security attacks on IIoT in 2017.

• Fifty-one percent said they do not feel prepared for security attacks that abuse, exploit or maliciously leverage insecure IIoT devices.

• Sixty-four percent said they already recognize the need to protect against IIoT attacks, as they continue to gain popularity among hackers.

“Industry professionals know that the Industrial Internet of Things security is a problem today. More than half of the respondents said they don’t feel prepared to detect and stop cyber attacks against IIoT,” said said David Meltzer, chief technology officer at Tripwire. “There are only two ways this scenario plays out: Either we change our level of preparation or we experience the realization of these risks. The reality is that cyber attacks in the industrial space can have significant consequences in terms of safety and the availability of critical operations.” 

“As Industrial companies pursue IIoT, it’s important to understand the new threats that can impact critical operations. Greater connectivity with operational technology (OT) exposes operational teams to the types of attacks that IT teams are used to seeing, but with even higher stakes,” said Robert Westervelt, security research manager at IDC.  “The concern for a cyber attack is no longer focused on loss of data, but safety and availability. Consider an energy utility as an example - cyber attacks could disrupt power supply for communities and potentially have impact to life and safety.”

The study’s respondents were also asked how they expect their organizations’ deployment of IIoT devices to change, and how it will affect their level of vulnerability. Tripwire found that: 

• Ninety percent expect IIoT deployment to increase.

• Ninety-four percent expect IIoT to increase risk and vulnerability in their organizations.

• When respondents were broken down by company size, both larger companies (96 percent) and smaller companies (93 percent) expect a significant increase in risk caused by the use of IIoT.

Meltzer continued, “The Industrial Internet of Things ultimately delivers value to organizations, and that’s why we’re seeing an increase in deployments. Security can’t be an industry of ‘no’ in the face of innovation, and businesses can’t be effective without addressing risks. The apparent contradiction of known risks and continued deployment demonstrates that security and operations need to coordinate on these issues. While IIoT may bring new challenges and risks, the fundamentals of security still apply. Organizations don’t need to find new security controls, rather they need to figure out how to apply security best practices in new environments.”

For more, see Security and Privacy in Internet of Things (IoTs): Models, Algorithms, and Implementations.

Energy Sector Sees Dramatic Rise in Successful Cyber Attacks

Portland, OR – April 7, 2016 – Tripwire, Inc. today announced the results of a study conducted for Tripwire by Dimensional Research. The study, which was carried out in November 2015, assessed cyber security challenges faced by organizations in the energy sector. Study respondents included over 150 IT professionals in the energy, utilities, and oil and gas industries.

When asked if their organization had experienced a rise in successful cyber attacks in the last 12 months, seventy-seven percent of the respondents in Tripwire’s study replied, “yes.” In addition, more than two-thirds of the respondents (sixty-eight percent) said the rate of successful cyber attacks had increased by over twenty percent in the last month.

“It’s tempting to believe that this increase in attacks is horizontal across industries, but the data shows that energy organizations are experiencing a disproportionately large increase when compared to other industries,” said Tim Erlin, director of IT security and risk strategy for Tripwire. “At the same time, energy organizations face unique challenges in protecting industrial control systems and SCADA assets.”

Additional findings from the study include:

• Energy executives were more than twice as likely to believe their organization detected every cyber attack (forty-three percent) than nonexecutives (seventeen percent).

• In the last 12 months, seventy-eight percent of the respondents said they experienced a cyber attack from an external source, and thirty percent have seen an attack from an inside employee.

• Forty-four percent of the respondents indicated they have not gathered enough information to identify the sources of cyber attacks on their organizations.

• Nearly one-fourth (twenty-two percent) of the respondents admitted their organizations do not have business processes to identify sensitive and confidential information.

“ Detecting attacks successfully is the midpoint of the overall process,” Erlin continued. “Energy organizations need to invest in greater prevention and forensic tools to decrease the rate of successful attacks and fully investigate those they can’t prevent.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the energy sector faces more cyber attacks than any other industry. Despite these escalating risks, the energy sector faces serious challenges responding to security threats effectively. For example, the results of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) GridEx III "cyberwar games" revealed significant challenges with the cyber threat intelligence practices of grid operators.

In addition to this study, Tripwire conducted a survey of 200 security professionals attending RSA Conference 2016. When asked if a cyber attack would cause physical damage to critical infrastructure in 2016, eighty-three percent of the respondents replied, “yes.” In addition, seventy-three percent of respondents to this second survey said critical infrastructure providers are more vulnerable to ransomware attacks than other organizations.

For more information about the survey please visit Tripwire.

Related Books

NEW! Cyber Security for Industrial Control Systems: From the Viewpoint of Close-Loop

Cybersecurity for Industrial Control Systems: SCADA, DCS, PLC, HMI, and SIS

Security and Privacy in Smart Grids

Data Privacy for the Smart Grid

Security and Privacy in Internet of Things (IoTs): Models, Algorithms, and Implementations

GSMA Announces Security Guidelines to Support Growth of the Internet of Things

Backed by the Mobile Industry, New Guidelines Outline Common Approach to Security for IoT Services

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The GSMA today announced the availability of new guidelines designed to promote the secure development and deployment of services in the growing Internet of Things (IoT) market. The document, ‘The GSMA IoT Security Guidelines,' has been developed in consultation with the mobile industry and offers IoT service providers and the wider IoT ecosystem practical advice on tackling common cybersecurity threats, as well as data privacy issues associated with IoT services.

The project has received the backing and support of the mobile industry including mobile operators AT&T, China Telecom, Etisalat, KDDI, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Telefónica, Telenor and Verizon and vendor and infrastructure partners 7Layers, Ericsson, Gemalto, Morpho, Telit and u-blox.

“As billions of devices become connected in the Internet of Things, offering innovative and interconnected new services, the possibility of potential vulnerabilities increases,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer, GSMA. “These can be overcome if the end-to-end security of an IoT service is carefully considered by the service provider when designing their service and an appropriate mitigating technology is deployed. A proven and robust approach to security will create trusted, reliable services that scale as the market grows.”

The GSMA’s IoT Security Guidelines have been designed for all players in the IoT ecosystem including IoT service providers, IoT device manufacturers and developers. They will help service providers build secure services by outlining technologies and methods to address potential threats, as well as how to implement them. They also establish the need for risk assessment of all components of an IoT service to ensure they are designed to securely collect, store and exchange data and successfully mitigate cybersecurity attacks. The Guidelines recently completed a thorough industry consultation with academics, analysts and other industry experts to ensure that they are as robust as possible.

“There is a significant amount of evidence to suggest that cyberattacks are already happening in the burgeoning IoT space. If not handled appropriately, these attacks are likely to inhibit the growth and stability of the Internet of Things,” commented Don A. Bailey, Founder and CEO, Lab Mouse Security. “It is imperative that the industry adopts a standard approach for dealing with security risks and mitigations, helping to ensure that the entire IoT ecosystem will not be subject to fraud, exposures of privacy, or attacks that affect human life."

The GSMA IoT Security Guidelines have been developed through the GSMA Connected Living program. The program is designed to help operators accelerate the delivery of new connected devices and services in the M2M market. It focuses on driving industry collaboration, promoting appropriate regulation and optimizing networks to support the growth of M2M in the immediate future and the IoT in the longer term.

The IoT Security Guidelines are available to download here.

For more on securing the IoT, get a copy of "Security and Privacy in Internet of Things (IoTs): Models, Algorithms, and Implementations." The book consists of five parts covering attacks and threats, privacy preservation, trust and authentication, IoT data security, and social awareness.

Black Energy Attack on Ukrainian Power Grid

Federal agencies in the US are looking into the Black Energy malware and possible state sponsored hackers that took down the Ukrainian power grid just before Christmas. About 700,000 were affected for several hours. If this proves out, it will be the first documented case of an attack that actually interrupted service and is a grave concern for governments around the world.

Tim Erlin, Director of IT Security and Risk Strategy for Tripwire says, “Industry experts have been talking about how cyber attacks could directly affect the power grid for a long time, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s now actually occurred. Discussing a threat doesn’t count as mitigation. Energy companies need to invest in securing their infrastructure, from control systems to corporate IT. Investment isn’t just about buying products. It’s about people, skills and process. Purchasing the latest security device is easy compared to training security staff effectively.

"All malware, including BlackEnergy, requires an infection vector to get to its target. Attackers will almost always take the path of least resistance. Today, that means published vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and phishing scams. These are all security issues that we can address, with sufficient resources.

 

"It’s myopic to think of this threat as an ‘energy sector’ problem. Any industry that relies on industrial control systems is at risk. Any industry where networked devices cause physical change in the world is a target for these kinetic cyber attacks.”

A Look Back at SCADA Security in 2015

A Look Back at SCADA Security in 2015

It should come as no surprise that SCADA systems and ICS that control key functions in critical infrastructure are especially at risk of cyber attack. This article reviews the current state of SCADA security; present a 2015 timeline that that highlights the growing risk of SCADA attacks; and discusses technologies you can use to bolster the security in SCADA and ICS systems.

Critical Stuxnet-level Vulnerabilities Discovered in UK Power Plants

It was reported on Friday that three critical vulnerabilities were discovered in UK power plants.

"The security and integrity of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) should be a global concern," said TK Keanini, chief technology officer of Lancope. "The reality is that if these systems were ever vulnerable and reachable via the Internet, they are likely already compromised – simple as that.  Not only should these companies patch the system but care should be taken to investigate the systems integrity. Advanced malware can sometimes install itself and fooling the patching software into thinking it has already been patched – like a Jedi mind-trick "These are not the droids you are looking for" manner.

"Infiltration of these systems is just one step of the larger picture. These industrial facilities must also make it harder for the adversary to remain hidden as they perform their operations. Raising the cost for your adversary to operate is the critical factor these days as infiltration is almost inevitable. Remember the people attacking these ICS systems are the type of people who do not want to be identified."

"These are critical vulnerabilities that allow a remote attacker to gain complete control over systems running Yokogawa CENTUM CS3000 by sending just a few packets to the vulnerable system," said Tom Cross, Lancope's director of security research. "The availability of functioning exploits in the Metasploit framework means that its easy for attackers to target these vulnerabilities. It is extremely important that operators of Yokogawa CENTUM CS3000 install the available security updates immediately.

"It's important to emphasize that the software that controls industrial plant facilities can have serious security vulnerabilities just like any other kind of software. Although we like to think that these systems aren't connected directly to the Internet, it has happened, and often, there are indirect links through back office networks that exist because of the need for the business to monitor its plant operations. Ultimately, its valuable for vulnerabilities like these to be discovered, disclosed, and patched. Identifying and fixing vulnerabilities is part of the process of making these systems more resilient to attack. Frankly, there is much more work to be done in the Industrial Control Systems area before we can have a high degree of confidence that these systems are well protected."

For more on ICS and SCADA security, see these books and articles:

Handbook of SCADA/Control Systems Security

Cybersecurity for Industrial Control Systems: SCADA, DCS, PLC, HMI, and SIS

Smart Grid Security: An End-to-End View of Security in the New Electrical Grid

Security and Privacy in Smart Grids

"SCADA Security: What Is an Industrial Control System?"

"SCADA Security"