Water system controllers don't belong on the internet, says ex-NSA chief after suspected Iran attacks

Calling all defenders

With at least 12 US states’ water systems having been hacked - most likely by Iran - we have to get better at cyber defense, according to retired General and Ex-NSA chief Paul Nakasone, who was speaking to reporters at DEF CON.

“We have to have higher standards,” Nakasone said. “These PLCs should not be connected to the internet.”

In late July, the FBI said it was investigating attacks conducted by “malicious cyber actors” targeting operational technology devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Iran-linked crews have targeted these devices, which monitor sensor data like tank levels, and can turn pumps on and off, for years.

Some private-sector security researchers say that they suspect Iranian intrudersare behind the recent cyberattacks disrupting water and wastewater facilities. “I'd be shocked if it's not Iran,” Halcyon Ransomware Research Center SVP Cynthia Kaiser told The Register at DEF CON...

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