Tag Archive for: Ripe

Startling Security Report Finds Solar Power Systems Are Ripe For Hacking

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startling security report finds solar power systems are ripe for hacking

If you have a solar roof and power management system, you might be vulnerable to a cyberattack depending on how the system was implemented. However, this problem is not limited to solar but also includes wind and hydroelectric systems connected to the internet, which all make juicy targets for a threat actor.

Researchers at Cyble have become increasingly concerned about the expansive growth and interconnectedness of domestic green energy solutions. The group reports that threat actors might exploit vulnerabilities or misconfigurations of the interconnections in times of conflict or heightened tensions.

exposure startling security report finds solar power systems are ripe for hacking 708

These sorts of attacks, if widespread, might lead to “destabilizing the targeted region, inflicting economic disruption, undermining energy security, and securing a strategic advantage.” This is entirely possible, too, as the researchers discovered 130,000 internet-exposed photovoltaic diagnostic and monitoring systems globally, or in other words, many solar systems alone are exposed to the internet, ignoring wind and hydroelectric systems entirely.

accessed panels startling security report finds solar power systems are ripe for hacking
These are a sample of the web panels that the researchers accessed in their hunting.

Setting aside the concerns about domestic power systems, this also highlights similar concerns regarding commercial systems that power homes that have not yet gone green. As we get into summer, an attacker could abuse the power grid, which will already be running thin, by controlling smart home devices to fluctuate power requirements. This could cause many problems, as the U.S. Government Accountability Office suggested in 2022.

Cybersecurity not only threatens our homes but that which provides them with power, water, and other essential services. We are generally wholly unprepared for these attacks, which could have lethal consequences given good malicious timing. Of course, you can do your part to keep systems up to date and, if possible, offline.

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The shipping supply chain is stressed from Covid. That makes it ripe for hackers.

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The global supply chain, where goods are shipped all over the world, is already stretched thin thanks to a year and a half of operating during a pandemic. It really doesn’t need hackers mucking things up further.



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But experts warn that the $100 billion shipping industry — especially the heavily computerized ports that receive cargo ships, as well as the actual crafts — are ripe targets for ransomware attacks. And the U.S. shipping industry is already backed up, as the coronavirus pandemic has caused a backlog with Americans ordering more goods to their home than ever before.

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Ransomware can hamper practically any organization that’s connected to the internet: Schools, hospitals, manufacturers, city governments and police departments are all frequent targets. But the shipping industry, more than most, relies heavily on the interaction between a number of different digital systems, from ports and cities to individual ships and the companies that own them.

That makes shipping particularly susceptible to cyberattack, said Rear Admiral John Mauger, the Coast Guard’s assistant commandant for prevention policy.

“This is an industry that relies on free flow of information,” Mauger said. “And as such, they are vulnerable to disruptions because of ransomware attacks.”

Ransomware, a criminal enterprise where a hacker or hacker group will encrypt a victim’s computers and demand a payment to restore them, has surged in recent years. But only in June, with the hack of a major U.S. oil pipeline, did the worry that ransomware could interrupt critical infrastructure take hold.

The White House has expressed particular concern about ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure, issuing an executive order mandating such companies adopt some basic cybersecurity standards and asking President Vladimir Putin to rein in hackers in Russia, where many ransomware operators live.

But so far, at least some hackers don’t appear to have gotten the message. At least five U.S. health care facilities — which, like the shipping industry, are among the country’s 16 categories of critical infrastructure — have been hit with ransomware since…

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Cyber Daily: Covid-19 Vaccine Logistics Chain Is Ripe Target for Hacking, Physical Intrusion

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Good day. Pharmaceutical firms and their logistics partners are on alert for hacking and physical infiltration that would disrupt supplies of Covid-19 vaccines as they become available. European police group Interpol, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and cybersecurity researchers are warning that would-be thieves and bad actors are targeting the supply chain for the crucial shots.

Other news: Amazon workplace monitoring tool raises privacy concerns; U.S. national cybersecurity director closer to reality; and U.S., Estonia teamed up against Russian cyber threats.

Weekend reading:
Twitter

case in Ireland close to final ruling;
Unilever

works to secure factories; pandemic accelerated cyber awareness at
Mastercard
,

Rockwell Automation

; EU wants car companies to share data; and companies urged to get real about cyber job requirements.

Hacking the Covid-19 Supply Chain

Covid-19 Vaccines Are ‘Liquid Gold’ to Organized Crime, Interpol Says. Criminal gangs likely will attempt to get their hands on the new Covid-19 vaccines, international police organization Interpol warned. Pharmaceutical firms and their logistics partners are on alert for hacking and physical infiltration that would disrupt supplies of the crucial shots as they become available, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Interpol issued a global orange notice—which it describes as a serious and imminent threat to public safety—to its 194 members, calling the vaccines “liquid gold.” It warned that counterfeit vaccines or fake coronavirus tests could become a growing problem as international travel gradually resumes in the months to come. Interpol issued the warning after the U.K. became the first country to grant emergency-use authorization for a vaccine. Developed by
Pfizer
Inc.
and
BioNTech SE
,
the rollout could start next week.

Separately,
…

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Once Ripe for Taking, Computer Security Market Reveals Winners—and Losers—Cyber Saturday – Fortune

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Once Ripe for Taking, Computer Security Market Reveals Winners—and Losers—Cyber Saturday  Fortune

A few years ago the market for “endpoint” security—software designed to protect people’s computers—was ripe for the taking. Investors poured hundreds of …

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