News

Threat to SCADA Systems Growing

A security researcher has released easy-to-use attack code that targets industrial SCADA systems

By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)

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Citect said that it had not heard of any customers who had been hacked because of this flaw. But the company is planning to soon release a new version of CitectSCADA with new security features, in a statement, (pdf) released Tuesday.

That release will come none too soon, as Finisterre believes that there are other, similar, coding mistakes in the CitectSCADA software.

And while SCADA systems may be separated from other computer networks within plants, they can still be breached. For example, in early 2003, a contractor reportedly infected the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant with the SQL Slammer worm.

"A lot of the people who run these systems feel that they're not bound by the same rules as traditional IT," Finisterre said. "Their industry is not very familiar with hacking and hackers in general."

Other stories by Robert McMillan

Copyright 2009 IDG News Service, International Data Group Inc. All rights reserved.

SCADA flaw

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