In recent news, the first reported safety system breach at an industrial plant occurred this past week at an undisclosed plant (cyber firms believe it occurred in Saudi Arabia or the Middle East).
The hacker group targeted Triconex industrial safety technology from Schneider Electric SE in what appears to be a watershed attack that halted operations at the facility. According to the report, this technology is typically used in the energy industry, including at nuclear facilities, and oil and gas plants.
Cyber experts worry that these attacks can allow hackers to shut down safety systems to set up an attack on an industrial plant, which can advert plants from identifying and stopping destructive breaches on facilities that are targeted.
“This is a watershed,” said Sergio Caltagirone, head of threat intelligence with Dragos. “Others will eventually catch up and try to copy this kind of attack.”
Although this watershed attack is specific to this circumstance, this case shows the potential for attacks against unlikely industries. If you’re interested in learning more about our industry leading policy form and how it can respond in the event of an attack, contact us.
Click here if you’d like to read more about this cyber attack.