GAO: Defense installation utilities at risk of cyber attack

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/07/24/utility-cyber-attack/30615033/

By Andrew Tilghman
Staff writer
Military Times
July 25, 2015

The utility systems that provide water, electricity and other essential 
services to military installations worldwide have limited defenses against 
cyber-attacks, putting many bases at risk for a "serious mission-disabling 
event," a new Government Accountability Office report says.

A recent GAO investigation identified a disturbing vulnerability in the 
military's network of "industrial control systems," the computers that 
monitor or operate physical utility infrastructure.

For example, "most" Navy and Marine Corps industrial control systems (ICS) 
"have very little in the way of security controls and cybersecurity 
measures in place," according to government documents identified by the 
GAO.

That leaves many installations exposed to a "cyber-physical effect" attack 
that could cause the "physical destruction of utility infrastructure 
controlled by an ICS," the GAO said.

[...]



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