Siemens Industrial Automation Systems Under Malware Threat
Siemens has warned its customers about a potential security threat from a sophisticated malware that targets its industrial automation systems. It is believed that this advanced worm is designed by hackers to steal confidential information from automation systems installed as part of critical infrastructure in several industrial establishments.
Dubbed as “W32/Stuxnet-B”, the worm spreads through external storage media such as USB drives, CDs and DVDs. The worm exploits uses a loophole in the Windows shell software to steal sensitive information from systems which run on Siemens SCADA (Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition) software.
Siemens is aware of the problem and is actively working on a solution. It has advised its customers not to change their default passwords or else it could disrupt the functioning of its large-scale industrial systems.
While industrial automation systems are far more secure than desktop computers, hackers are now increasingly targeting them as they store loads of valuable information. Such malware attacks on industrial systems are capable of causing massive economic damages, both to the automation systems provider as well as their customers. Microsoft has also issued a security advisory on this threat and is actively working on finding a solution to this problem.
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