SCADA and the End of the World
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 at 6:07PM The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a great article on the risks of SCADA systems. Starting first with a description of the 1982 CIA attack on Russian gas pipelines, and ending with the Aussie sewage leak and the 2003 black-out. This article points the general ignorance most people have about the risks of computer hacking and our national infrastructure.
When most people hear the word hacker the immediately think about online bank accounts and other financial services activities. Very few think about the national water system or the nuclear power plants. In this article, Bob Keefe (AJC) describes how there is an accepted "Air of Complacency" within industries dependent on SCADA systems.
Many of us within the industry have read about the reports he cites within this. What is new, and frightening, to me is his final section. The British Columbia Institute of Technology conducted a study of companies in 5 countries dependent on SCADA systems. This study reported that there were over 135 SCADA security incidents over a 4 1/2 year period.
"We're seeing an interest in the black hat [hacker] community that we never, ever saw before," he said. "All of the sudden we have people with malicious intent learning and understanding what a SCADA system is."
Let me tell you, these are not the guys we want poking at the firewalls and systems controlling our water, gas and signalling systems.
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