Malware Attacks Safety Systems Of Industrial Plants All Around The World

Deadly Malware

Malware nowadays can steal information on your bank account. Furthermore, they can also demand bitcoin to get access to your files. These situations have been quite familiar to us recently.

However, according to a new investigation published in the famous magazine MIT Technology Review, a new tool developed by hackers is aiming at many safety systems. Reportedly, the target systems are the ones ominously protect the facilities for water treatment and the stations of nuclear power. These safety systems are located within industrial plants all over the world.

According to what Martin Giles from MIT Tech wrote of an incident where a petrochemical plant located in Saudi Arabia was reported to be under attack from the malware: Considering the worst situation possible, there could have been a release of a toxic gas - hydrogen sulfide or even explosions due to the rogue code, which would put many lives under danger not only inside the facility but also within the surrounding area.

Lives At Stake

Researchers name this malware Triton. Triton seems to have been spreading ever since 2014; however, not until sometime around 2017 were most researchers aware of the malware. The most concerning thing was the fact that Triton crosses a brand-new ethical boundary - a source shared with MIT Tech

Conversed with the magazine - Joe Slowik, who is currently working at an industrial cybersecurity company called Dragos. This company has been keeping track of the Triton’s spread. Slowik also used to serve in the US Navy as an information warfare officer. He said that attacking safety systems were immoral.

Nuclear Option

During his speech in 2018, from MIT Tech’s reports, Dan Coats who used to be the director of national intelligence in the U.S. alerted that the chances of a cyber attack which can debilitate the American infrastructure are getting higher and higher.

Coats expressed during the event that there they were approximately twenty years later and that he was there to alert that the warning lights were blinking red once again. He said that was the day when the digital infrastructure which serves the country was being attacked.