The FBI issued an alert to businesses in July after unknown attackers breached a computer used to control the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a New Jersey company, accessing a graphical user interface for the system, including a floor play layout of the company’s office. The attacks came after an Anonymous affiliated hacker, using the handle @ntisec, published links to vulnerable ICS systems running software from the firm Tridium online. The links included the address of an administrative system that controlled the HVAC system used by US Business 1, a New Jersey company that installs air conditioning systems for other companies, according to a copy of the July, 2012 Situational Information Report (PDF), issued by the Newark Division of the FBI. The alert concerning the February and March, 2012 attack was released by the web site Public Intelligence on Saturday. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment from Security […]
Search Results for "Department of Homeland Security"
Bluetooth-Sniffing Highway Traffic Monitors Vulnerable to MITM Attack
A system that monitors traffic patterns by pinging Bluetooth devices carried within passing automobiles is vulnerable to man in the middle attacks that could allow a remote attacker to steal data or remotely control or disable systems used to monitor freeways across the U.S., according to an alert from the Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control System Computer Emergency Readiness Team (ICS-CERT). ICS-CERT issued an advisory on Friday for customers who use Bluetooth-based traffic systems from the firm Post Oak Traffic Systems. Post Oak’s AWAM Bluetooth Reader Traffic Systems do not properly generate authentication keys used to secure communications. That could allow an attacker to calculate the private key used by the AWAM reader, then use those to impersonate the device, siphoning off administrative credentials that would give them direct access to the traffic monitoring system, DHS warned. Post Oak’s Anonymous Wireless Address Matching (AWAM) devices are installed at the […]
Support Forums Reveal Soft Underbelly of Critical Infrastructure
We hear a lot about vulnerabilities in industrial control system (ICS) software. In fact, that’s all we seem to hear about these days. The truth is: there’s a lot to write about. In just the last month, the Department of Homeland Security’s ICS-CERT warned its members about the ability of sophisticated – and even unskilled – attackers to use tools like the Shodan and ERIPP search engines to locate and attack vulnerable industrial control systems (PDF) that are accessible from the public Internet. In the meantime, every couple of weeks brings revelations about serious and remotely exploitable software holes. Most recently, ICS-CERT warned about a critical vulnerability EOScada (PDF), a Windows-based Energy Management System that is used to configure and manage intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) used in electrical, water, sewage and gas applications. But what about real evidence of compromised SCADA and industrial control systems? That’s a taller order. After all: most […]
Spotlight Podcast: OT Is Under Attack. Now What?
Chris Walcutt, the CSO at DirectDefense talks about the rapidly changing threat landscape that critical infrastructure owners and operators inhabit, and how savvy firms are managing OT cyber risks.
Episode 202: The Byte Stops Here – Biden’s Cyber Agenda
Even before Solar Storm, Joe Biden had made it clear that a cyber security reset was needed. But what will that reset look like? To understand a bit better what might be in store in the months ahead we devoted this episode of the podcast to interviewing three experts on federal IT security and cyber defense.
