THE INDUSTRIAL SECURITY INSTITUTE
OT / industrial / ICS cybersecurity concepts from the perspective of the world’s most secure industrial sites. Truly secure sites ask different questions, and so get different answers. Subscribe to never miss an episode

EPS. 4 – TARGETED RANSOMWARE
An attacker with good computer knowledge targets IT insiders with phishing attacks and malicious attachments, gaining a foothold on the IT network with Remote Access Tool (RAT) malware. The attacker uses the RAT to steal additional credentials, eventually gaining remote access to an industrial control system. The attacker seeds ransomware throughout the ICS and demands a ransom. The site quickly disables all electronic connections between the affected plant and outside networks and tries to pay the ransom. The payment mechanism fails, and the ransomware automatically activates, having received no signal from the attacker that the ransom was paid. The ransomware erases hard drives and BIOS firmware in all Targeted Ransomware infected equipment. The plant suffers an emergency shutdown.

THE TOP 20 CYBERATTACKS ON INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS
These Top 20 attacks have been selected to represent cyber threats to industrial sites across a wide range of circumstances, consequences and sophistication. No industrial operation is free of risk, and different industrial enterprises may legitimately have different “appetites” for certain types of risks. In this series we show how to use the Top 20 Cyberattacks to compare the strength of two security postures at a hypothetical water treatment plant: Defence in depth 2013 (software based security) vs. that same security posture plus a unidirectional security gateway device providing hardware-enfonced security). We ask the question, does either defensive posture reliably defeat each attack? Over the course of 20 episodes we build a score card that can be used to easily communicate risk reduction benefits to business decision-makers who are not familiar with cyber-security.

ABOUT ANDERW GINTER
At Waterfall, Andrew leads a team of experts who work with the world’s most secure industrial sites. He is author of two books on industrial security, a co-author of the Industrial Internet Consortium’s Security Framework, and the co-host of the Industrial Security Podcast. Andrew spent 35 years designing SCADA system products for Hewlett Packard, IT/OT connectivity products for Agilent Technologies, and OT/ICS security products for Industrial Defender and Waterfall Security Solutions.