Cyber Attack on the Ukrainian Power Grid

The CIA is looking into whether Russian Hackers were to blame for the cyber attack on the Ukrainian power grid.  Experts say this is a first of a kind and may be a bad omen for attacks on other power grids around the world including our own. Tim Erlin, director of security and product management at Tripwire have the following comments on it.

[su_note note_color=”#ffffcc” text_color=”#00000″]Tim Erlin, Director of Security and Product Management at Tripwire :

“Industry experts have been talking about how cyberattacks could directly affect the power grid for a long time, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s now actually occurred. Discussing a threat doesn’t count as mitigation.

Energy companies need to invest in securing their infrastructure, from control systems to corporate IT. Investment isn’t just about buying products. It’s about people, skills and process. Purchasing the latest security device is easy compared to training security staff effectively.

All malware, including BlackEnergy, requires an infection vector to get to its target. Attackers will almost always take the path of least resistance. Today, that means published vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and phishing scams. These are all security issues that we can address, with sufficient resources.

It’s myopic to think of this threat as an ‘energy sector’ problem. Any industry that relies on industrial control systems is at risk. Any industry where networked devices cause physical change in the world is a target for these kinetic cyberattacks.”[/su_note]

[su_box title=”About Tripwire” style=”noise” box_color=”#336588″]Tripwire is a leading provider of advanced threat, security and compliance solutions that enable enterprises, service providers and government agencies to confidently detect, prevent and respond to cybersecurity threats. Tripwire solutions are based on high-fidelity asset visibility and deep endpoint intelligence combined with business-context and enable security automation through enterprise integration. Tripwire’s portfolio of enterprise-class security solutions includes configuration and policy management, file integrity monitoring, vulnerability management and log intelligence.[/su_box]