Why are there so many articles about PLCs on the Internet where they specifically say they're vulnerable to attacks from Iran?

[nerdpr0f@infosec.exchange]

@cR0w Fair enough, but a) I suspect that's probably not universal and b) I rather suspect this is more targeted at higher-level, budget-deciding folks.

[da_667@infosec.exchange]

@cR0w @nerdpr0f if my time working for Exelon was any indicator, the biggest PLC/ICS threat isn't nation-state actors, it was the vendors bringing in infected shit on their hardware.

[cr0w@infosec.exchange]

@nerdpr0f For sure. But it's so distracted boyfriend meme that it actually bugs me this time.

[cr0w@infosec.exchange]

@da_667 @nerdpr0f Not just their hardware, but their own entire domains with bullshit requirements.

[nerdpr0f@infosec.exchange]

@cR0w All the AI crap has really drove home to me that the entire tech industry is just the distracted boyfriend meme 24/7. All of it.

[da_667@infosec.exchange]

@cR0w @nerdpr0f even more important than that for power generation and distribution, it was the wildlife and the climate that was a bigger threat than any of those things.

[rootwyrm@weird.autos]

@da_667 @cR0w @nerdpr0f hey now, sometimes the vendors of the equipment attached to the PLC are the ones who bring in the infected shit.

[nerdpr0f@infosec.exchange]

@rootwyrm @da_667 @cR0w Don't forget bad third party dependencies.

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@da_667 @cR0w @nerdpr0f I mean I think the point was that this is a pattern observed in the past by specifically these actors, and that in this moment, it's worth reconsideration.

Now granted, CISA does not cite their sources, but the claim was this exploitation was happening anew. And if it was similar to the CyberAv3ngers situation, they wouldn't be shy about claiming credit.

[da_667@infosec.exchange]

@rootwyrm @cR0w @nerdpr0f that's exactly what I was saying. I was a part of an IR engagement where a gas generation plant had to go into manual mode because the vendor infected their server 2003 cluster and fucked operations there for weeks.

[cr0w@infosec.exchange]

@da_667 @nerdpr0f RIP cybersquirrel1

[ryanb@infosec.exchange]

@rootwyrm @da_667 @cR0w @nerdpr0f Seen it.

[cr0w@infosec.exchange]

@mttaggart @da_667 @nerdpr0f CISA appears to no longer be any more than three DOGE kids in a trenchcoat with a pile of cocaine. I don't expect citations from them anymore as I don't hardly trust them anymore. We can discuss some of that elsewhere when I get my brain in that mode, but there has been so much advice from CISA that appears to just be "Grok, search for Iran and rehash something to make it sound current and relevant."

[viss@mastodon.social]

@da_667 @rootwyrm @cR0w @nerdpr0f

oh like target!
some hvac vendor came in and thats how they got all their registers infected.

yeah every time theres "big news"(tm) with nation state attackers everyone goes OH NO THEY CAN GO AFTER HYDRO AND POWER AND BANKS AND HOSPITALS

of course thats where they would go

all those verticals intentionally avoid security at nearly all cost all the time.

they're the lowest hanging fruit

[da_667@infosec.exchange]

@cR0w @mttaggart @nerdpr0f

CISAs haunted

"what"

grabs cyber shotgun

CISAs haunted.

[viss@mastodon.social]

@da_667 @rootwyrm @cR0w @nerdpr0f when i worked at sempra energy, one of the things i got to do was "vendor security reviews". that means doing assessments on shit rando business units wanted to buy or setup.

they would OPEN THE DISCUSSION with the phrase:

"tell me when youre done with your assessment, so we can file the risk acceptance forms".

meaning they had zero interest in the report, because they were gonna bypass it no matter what was in it

[cr0w@infosec.exchange]

@da_667 @mttaggart @nerdpr0f

[none@infosec.exchange]

@Viss @da_667 @rootwyrm @cR0w @nerdpr0f mandatory plug of https://youtu.be/9IG3zqvUqJY

[multisn8@mastodon.catgirl.cloud]

@nerdpr0f @cR0w Figuring the same, causality could be the other way around. Iran takes up a lot of collective {mind,news}space right now, leaving writers to think "oh Damn what could They possibly Do to Our Sacred Infrastructure". The leap isn't far to grab the next best thing, it just turns out a general vulnerability is prone to abuse from Iranian hackers as well

[multisn8@mastodon.catgirl.cloud]

@nerdpr0f @cR0w "their heinious foreign hacking" vs "our glorious protective FISA"