Slashdot Mirror
Hackers Targeting US Nuclear Power Plants, Report Finds (cnet.com)
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."
Are the control systems at plants not isolated from the outside world?
If not, why not?
It seems obvious that they should be.
Yes, they are isolated. But articles like this tend to hint that plants are hacked when in reality only the corporate business lans are involved in the attacked, not the isolated control systems. But headlines aren't so exciting if they reflect reality.
I think I've seen this same misleading bullshit article title literally once a month since 9/11/01.
So the administrative (read: Windows) network got some malware at a nuke plant? Shocking. I'd honestly think I'd be more shocked if the headline said that a nuclear facility had never gotten its Windows network breached, because I've never seen one that hasn't been.
Now, if the article showed that someone was fucking with the reactors or other critical systems, I'd be worried. But every article for the last 16 years has always been this same kind of clickbait garbage.