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Hackers Targeting US Nuclear Power Plants, Report Finds (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the shape-of-things dept.

For the past couple of months, hackers have breached the computer networks of companies that operate nuclear power facilities in the US, according to a new report from federal law enforcement officials. From a report: One of the companies targeted was the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation, which operates a nuclear facility near Burlington, Kansas, according to a joint report issued last week by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security and described by The New York Times. The report carried an urgent amber warning, the second-highest rating for the severity of the threat, the Times reported. Organizations running the nation's energy, nuclear and other critical infrastructure have become frequent targets for cyberattacks in recent years. In a 2013 executive order, President Barack Obama called cyberattacks "one of the most serious national security challenges we must confront."

2 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Air Gap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is the advantage of the vintage of the U.S. nuclear fleet. The vast majority of the control systems, and just about all if not all safety-related control systems are electromechanical. There's nothing digital. You have to physically be there to screw with it. For those unfamiliar, the control logic doesn't use the fancy schmancy transistor, it uses electromechanical relays.

    Plenty of plants have analog to digital converters that take process information for monitoring - even remotely, but these include diodes and such to isolate the system. Plus things like the business network, admin, HR, etc etc are Internet connected. Losing that would be a bad day for business, but the plant itself wouldn't care.

  2. Re:Air Gap by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 3, Informative

    ^You are talking off of assumptions, not experience. You could have checked just a little first, the link below an example of digital products that have been being installed in US nuclear plants for over that last 20 years. These systems don't need to be installed in containment where radiation levels are high, relay based controls are already installed in low rad environments.

    http://www.westinghousenuclear...

    Here is one on the Oconee Reactor Protection digital system, other plants are in the process of planning protection system digital upgrades;

    http://www.power-eng.com/artic...

    In addition, many US plants have installed digital control rod drive control systems. Once again, those controls are not located inside containment. You can walk right up to them, as most all controls, while the plant is running full power.