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Transatlantic cable
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In what Ms Vergetis Lundin termed “the oblivious category,”
energy executives were found by Tripwire to be more than twice
as likely than non-executives (43 per cent vs 17 per cent) to
assume that their organisations detected every cyber attack.
Tim Erlin, director of IT security and risk strategy for Tripwire,
told Smart Grid News, “It’s tempting to believe that this increase
in attacks is horizontal across industries, but the data show that
energy organisations are experiencing a disproportionately
large increase when compared to other industries.” (“Oblivious in
Energy: Cyber Attacks More Successful Than Ever,” 8 th April)
At the same time, Mr Erlin said, energy organisations face
unique challenges in protecting industrial control systems
and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) assets
– dependent as these are on operation by way of coded
signals over communication channels. He asserted that energy
companies need to invest more heavily in prevention and
forensic tools to decrease the rate of successful attacks and fully
investigate those they cannot prevent.
† Tripwire also conducted a survey of 200 security
professionals attending a conference hosted by the
computer and network security company RSA (Bedford,
Massachusetts) in February 2016 in San Francisco.
When asked if a cyber attack could cause physical damage to
critical infrastructure, 83 per cent of respondents answered in
the a rmative. In addition, 73 per cent said that proprietors of
such facilities – de nitely including power plants – are more
vulnerable to ransomware attacks (in which the victims have
their data encrypted until they pay) than other organisations.
Utilities hold a particular fascination for
cybercriminals specialising in ransomware
In “A Brief History of Ransomware,” published on its blog about
information security and IT ops, the New York-based security
software company Varonis gives as the rst documented
example of the extortionate tactic the 1989 AIDS Trojan, also
known as PS Cyborg.
Harvard-trained evolutionary biologist Joseph L Popp
sent 20,000 infected diskettes labelled “AIDS Information
– Introductory Diskettes” to attendees of the World Health
Organization’s international AIDS conference.
The Trojan hid directories and encrypted the names of the les
on the recipient’s computer. To regain access, the user had to
send $189 to PC Cyborg Corp at a post o ce box in Panama.
Varonis recalled that Dr Popp was eventually caught but was
declared un t to stand trial: “His attorney said he began wearing
a cardboard box on his head to protect himself from radiation.”
Whether latter-day ransomware attackers are as colourful as Dr
Popp is not readily established, since they are at pains to conceal
their identities. What can be said is that expert opinion suggests
they may be making a speciality of energy utilities.
Again as reported by Smart Grid News (see “An especially
vulnerable sector,” above), a water and electricity authority in the
US Midwest needed a week to recover from a ransomware attack
that hit its enterprise systems on 25th April.
The successful phishing attack forced the Lansing (Michigan)
Board of Water & Light to lock down its corporate systems,
including phone servers. Calling the attack a “cyber incident,” the
utility emphasised that no customer data had been stolen. (“Just
an Incident: Michigan Utility Downplays Cyber Attack,” 4 th May)
While acknowledging that a ransomware attack is not a direct
threat to critical infrastructure systems, Barbara Vergetis
Lundin asserted on that the risk of these
halt-and-release incursions is high for utilities.
And Itsik Mantin, director of security research at the
cybersecurity rm Imperva (New York), took note of the trend
away from individuals to enterprises as targets. Ransomware,
Mr Mantin told Ms Vergetis Lundin, has evolved into a smooth
and highly e cient ecosystem run by professionals “and
ful lling the hacker’s most desired void – the path from infection
to money.”
Elsewhere in energy . . .
† The amount of solar power installed in the USA has
increased 23-fold over the last seven years, from 1.2
gigawatts in 2008 to an estimated 27.4GW in 2015, with a
million systems now in operation. A key challenge to further
solar deployment is integrating distributed generation
sources like rooftop solar panels into the national grid,
striking a balance with traditional utility generation to
provide reliable, cost-e ective power. The US Department of
Energy on 3rd May said that it would put $25 million toward
support for companies working to meet that challenge.
Through industry and utility partnerships, solutions
developed by the DOE’s Grid Modernisation Initiative will
be eld-tested by utilities to evaluate their performance in
real-world operating environments. The expectation is that
the research ndings and live demonstrations will provide
new tools for utilities and grid operators hoping to realise
the maximum bene t from solar.
Telecom
As consumers everywhere become
increasingly connected, those in the
developed world are already moving on
from the smartphone
The Connected Consumer Index provides a single measure
of how much, and on what devices, consumers in each of 78
countries and eight world regions digitally connect with digital
content and with one another.
Published annually by the German market research rm GfK
(Nuremberg), it enables businesses to compare “connectedness”
in order to spot market opportunities and improve their
competitive edge across a range of industries.
The GfK Index for 2016 nds Hong Kong and North America
(USA, Canada, Mexico) holding steady as having the world’s two
most fully connected populations. But the United Arab Emirates
is closing in on the leaders, jumping from eighth place in 2015
to a projected third place this year. Switzerland has overtaken
Denmark and Sweden to move up from tenth place to a forecast
eighth place this year. (“Hong Kong, US, UAE ‘Most Connected’
Populations,” 10th May)
Other countries having made a signi cant leap forward, in terms
of connectivity, are Chile and Jordan. Chile climbed seven places,
from 27th in 2015 to 20th this year, to stand now just after Italy,
Ireland and Australia. And Jordan jumped from 31st place to 23rd
place – overtaking Cyprus, Oman, New Zealand and Belgium,
among others.