Fuel storage tanks put at risk by worrying security flaws

Fuel storage is an essential part of worldwide logistics, marking it as critical infrastructure and therefore a target for state-sponsored cyber attacks.

As with most things today, many fuel depots have some form of internet facing technology to help manage fuel levels remotely using automated tank gauges (ATG), and research from Bitsight has warned these systems have multiple critical vulnerabilities that could give an attacker full control over the fuel storage, allowing for the possibility of physical and environmental damage as well as economic loss.

The company identified multiple critical zero day vulnerabilities across six different ATG systems produced by five different companies. Despite multiple warnings about the potential for these systems to be easily attacked over the internet, many remain online and unpatched, making them prime targets for hacktivists and state-sponsored attackers.

ATG vulnerabilities

The Bitsight research outlines legacy vulnerabilities, such as those relating to a certain protocol in ...