According to ABI Research, the international oil sector is expected to increase investments on cyber defenses by $1.9 billion this year. On May 12, the healthcare insurance giant issued a letter to victims stating it had suffered … higher that the percentage for all ICS computers. Computers in European countries which are used to configure, maintain and control equipment in the energy industry on which Kaspersky products are installed. However, several characteristics of the energy sector heighten the risk and impact of cyberthreats against utilities (Figure 1). The use of the corporate email service should be restricted on ICS computers in power and energy organizations and allowed only in cases where it is absolutely necessary. The US power sector has prevented millions of cyberattacks in 2020 — that takes 24/7 commitment. Overall, in Q1 2020 Kaspersky products were triggered on 20.4% of ICS computers in the energy sector in Europe. Our Platforms for Shaping the Future of Cybersecurity and Digital Trust and Shaping the Future of Energy and Materials have pioneered a Systems of Cyber Resilience: Electricity Initiative, which brings together leaders from more than 50 businesses, governments, civil society and academia, each with their own perspective, to collaborate and develop a clear and coherent cybersecurity vision for the electricity … Twitter. Notably, the only country in Europe where the percentage of removable media threats on ICS computers in the energy sector was lower than that for all ICS computers in the country was the Russian Federation. Besides phishing and malicious IPs/URLs blocked on 8.8% of ICS computers, most common internet threats for ICS computers in Energy in Europe were JavaScript Trojans (3.1%) distributed via malvertising banners and phishing websites and delivering various intrusive adware and crypto-miners. Magellan. Despite the abundant advantages gained from grid modernization, deploying distributed resources also poses risks by increasing grid interconnection points; these unmanaged, and often unencrypted, connections create a plethora of targets for cyber-attacks. These has lead to a set of strategic areas that need to be addressed by the energy sector; the strategic ares are described in chapter 6. In Q1 2020, 504 modifications of malware from 170 malware families were blocked, which had been delivered to ICS computers in the energy sector in Europe via email clients. Four days after a sweeping hack of … The use of external email services should be prohibited on ICS computers in power and energy organizations. Published Oct. 29, 2020. Much ado about something: Growing cyber risk in the power sector. Cyberattacks are a growing problem in the energy sector overseas. Fast forward to 2020 and everyone knows something about cyber security. Work Programme 2018-2020 - Societal Challenge 7 “Secure Societies –Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens” Call: Digital Security Topic: SU-DS04-2018-2020: Cybersecurity in the Electrical Power and Energy System (EPES): an armour against cyber and privacy attacks and data breaches Type of action: Innovation Action (IA) Increasing cyber risk in the energy sector. Regularly train employees in recognizing suspicious email messages and attachments. The graph below compares the percentage of all ICS computers in European countries on which malware was blocked on removable media and a similar percentage for ICS computers in the energy sector. Notably, the most active phishing websites are hosted on servers in the US and the Netherlands, in particular (but not limited to): In less common cases (on 0.9% of ICS computers in Europe in Energy) websites of engineering and manufacturing companies related to the energy industry were blocked because of a malicious JavaScript Trojan designed to track visitors or to deliver crypto miners and adware. In a retail setting, a DoS attack might result in the temporary inability of consumers to purchase desired items, but a DoS attack on a generation facility could leave the grid operator without visibility for a prolonged period into the power operations generating hundreds of megawatts of electricity. ClearSky has also warned that the exploitation of vulnerabilities such as seen recently in certain Citrix devices, is expected to be significant in 2020. Use group policies which require users to change their passwords on a regular basis. The first known successful cyberattack on a power grid happened in the Ukraine in December 2015 using phishing emails with attached hidden malware – it blacked out approximately 230,000 houses. By continuing to browse this website you accept the use of cookies. Suspected state-sponsored hackers targeted Chinese government … There is growing recognition that cyberattacks have the potential to be even more malicious, disrupting increasingly digitized critical energy infrastructure. Addressing the attack on the energy department, spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes confirmed it was responding to a cyber-breach - but said "the malware has been isolated to business networks … Log and monitor the use of administrator functions. The GAO report is accurate in highlighting that one of the greatest risks to the security of the bulk power system is the failure of the federal government to develop comprehensive, fuel-neutral cybersecurity protocols that apply to all entities contributing to the nation’s bulk power system. devices and automated controls. The electric power grid is subject to escalating threats of attack by foreign adversaries and individual bad actors. Organizations in the energy industry in these countries should keep this in mind and take additional measures to protect their information systems from attacks. As automation and digital sensors become more prevalent in moving a physical commodity like natural gas or oil, the opportunities for cyber-intrusion similarly increase as evidenced by the 2018 pipeline attack. Foley Hoag LLP - Security, Privacy and the Law, report by the Government Accounting Office, Cybersecurity 2020 — The Year in Preview: Top 3 State AG Trends to Watch in 2020, Cybersecurity 2020 — The Year in Preview: Changes in Health Data Privacy Legislation, Cybersecurity 2020 — The Year in Preview: Brexit, Data Flows and Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity 2020 — The Year in Preview: Top 11 CCPA Developments to Watch Out for in 2020, Cyberattack Shuts Down Cross-Country Gas Pipeline System. By Pedro J. Pizarro and … Ascertain that all computers in the organization have antivirus software installed, properly configured and running. Detailed information about the use of cookies on this website is available by clicking on more information. ; In March 2020, the European Electricity Association ENTSO-E was targeted by a cyber … Copyright © var today = new Date(); var yyyy = today.getFullYear();document.write(yyyy + " "); JD Supra, LLC. Many modern host protection tools include the necessary functionality. Just a few years ago, 20% of the incidents reported in 2016 were within the energy sector. Global Predictions for Energy Cyber Resilience in 2020 Here are five trends to watch. The most common threats blocked on removable media were worms (including the Kido net-worm) – mostly old variants first seen a decade ago, but still spreading in ICS networks. Use and regularly update malware detection systems and the blacklist of malicious IP addresses. The following measures are necessary to ensure the adequate protection of ICS systems: Vulnerability in FortiGate VPN servers is exploited in Cring ransomware attacks, APT attacks on industrial companies in 2020, Threat landscape for industrial automation systems. Restrict access to such services on corporate firewalls and on endpoints (e.g., using application whitelisting technologies). The most common threats delivered via email clients were spyware and exploits for common office software (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.) Nor should concerns about the increasing vulnerability of the grid focus exclusively on renewable or distributed resources. Ed Lyman, Director of Nuclear Power Safety, Climate & Energy | December 18, 2020, 5:56 pm EDT News reports over the last day indicate that a massive and devastating cyberattack on US … The use of RDP and SMB services should be limited on ICS computers in power and energy organizations to cases where it is absolutely necessary. The inability to monitor and manage power availability real-time raises the possibility of outages or blackouts. Christian Vasquez, E&E News reporter. Manage the rights of user and service accounts in such a way as to prevent the infection from spreading across the enterprise if an account is compromised. April 2020. higher. Ensure timely installation of database and program module updates for antivirus software and other security solutions. Among these were websites of companies in Turkey (also described in the TIP report on threats for ICS in Turkey in 2019 H2) and Russia, such as: The initial source of infection of the websites is unknown, but it is obvious that the ability to infect such web services could also be used to conduct a watering hole attack. The percentage of ICS computers in the European energy sector that use corporate versions of endpoint protection is lower than the percentage of ICS computers that use the same corporate endpoint protection solutions in Russia. A Russian hacking group used forged diplomatic cables and planted articles on social media to undermine the governments of Estonia and the Republic of Georgia. July 7, 2020. The most common threats delivered via email clients were spyware and exploits for common office software (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.) To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra: [HOT] Read Latest COVID-19 Guidance, All Aspects... [SCHEDULE] Upcoming COVID-19 Webinars & Online Programs, [GUIDANCE] COVID-19 and Force Majeure Considerations, [GUIDANCE] COVID-19 and Employer Liability Issues. Build a Morning News Brief: Easy, No Clutter, Free! At the same time, the percentage of email threats was 1.7 p.p. This is especially true as the country transitions from a centralized grid to lower carbon, distributed energy resources. DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. By using and further navigating this website you accept this. The rapid pace of innovation; 2. Q1 2020, [13 random characters/numbers].cloudfront.net. Editors’ Note: This is the second in our fourth-annual end-of-year series examining important trends in data privacy and cybersecurity in the coming year. A 2019 report by Deloitte disclosed that the energy sector is one of the most targeted industries. In January 2020, a hacking campaign by Iranian hackers was observed targeting the European energy sector, in which the attackers tried to steal sensitive information using the PupyRAT malware. FERC to consider the potential risk of a coordinated cyberattack and assess whether mandatory reporting thresholds are warranted. On average, an ICS computer in Energy in Europe received 3-5 distinct malicious emails in Q1 2020. the consolidation of regulatory oversight in a single agency, either DOE or perhaps the Department of Defense; the adoption of regulations that include mandatory reporting requirements for cyber-attacks; and. DOE to develop a plan implementing national cybersecurity strategy including a comprehensive assessment of cybersecurity risks facing the grid; FERC to adopt changes to cybersecurity standards on the prevention, detection and response to cyber events; and. This is typical of ICS and is primarily due to a lack of essential security measures on some network nodes, allowing those worms to survive for such a long time. Introduce password strength requirements. Continuously monitor the use of email client software and access to email services to determine whether it is legitimate from the security policy standpoint. WASHINGTON (AP) — The operator of a major U.S. pipeline hit by a cyberattack said Monday it hopes to have service mostly restored by the end of the week. Restrict the rights of users on their systems, as well as corporate service access rights, leaving a minimal set of rights as required for specific employees to perform their work. Energy Sector Is More Threatened Than Ever. The other two industries that recorded close to that were communications and critical manufacturing. While the bulk electric system in the U.S. is subject to oversight from multiple agencies, the natural gas pipeline system is subject to minimal oversight by TSA. Other attacks by Netwalker Chapter 7 summarizes the existing policy landscape in cyber security for the energy sector at European Union level. Energy companies are susceptible to the same types of destructive attacks that other businesses contend with, including ransomware, denial-of-service attacks and trojans that seize control of key management systems. While no U.S. utilities have been seriously compromised to date, in 2015, Ukraine’s electric grid was hit by a cyberattack that led to a lengthy blackout affecting approximately 250,000 people. Share. Such a low percentage of threats on removable media in the Russian energy sector is most likely due to the extensive use of corporate versions of endpoint protection solutions that have Device Control functionality, significantly restricting the use of USB devices. WhatsApp. Differences in the threat landscapes for all ICS computers and ICS computers in the energy sector become more pronounced when analyzing data for different countries. It is recommended that energy-related organizations introduce more stringent restrictions on the use of USB devices on computers that are part of the industrial network. (In a DoS attack, multiple systems flood the network of a targeted system with traffic, usually one or more of its web servers, and disrupt service with the goal of rendering it unavailable to its intended users.) If possible, restrict the use of any office solutions in the organization. Meanwhile, other threats that are unable to spread via removable media by themselves could have been unintentionally copied by users who were unaware of the threat. Moreover, siloed agency reporting has resulted in a lack of sharing among these agencies; they do not even have the same interpretation of what constitutes a reportable event, leading to what FERC has called a “reporting gap.” In 2018, for example, NERC reported zero cyber events, DOE reported four events, and DHS reported 59. A Regulatory Hodgepodge for Cybersecurity on the Grid. The implementation of such restrictions should be monitored. Midsized companies in particular are often behind the power curve in implementing and maintaining cybersecurity controls. Amy Myers Jaffe, professor at Tufts University and a leading expert on energy policy & security, discusses how the hacker attack on the nation's largest pipeline should be a wake up call for … 4 Only two other sectors reported more incidents—critical manufacturing and communications. All industry verticals could do a better job at proactively managing cyber risk—but the stakes are even higher for the energy sector. Law Firms: Be Strategic In Your COVID-19 Guidance... [GUIDANCE] On COVID-19 and Business Continuity Plans. However, while attention is focused on the security of the power plant, threat hunting firm Vectra believes we are concentrating our security efforts in the wrong place. To achieve this, consider using modern phishing detection technologies – both at the network perimeter / email server level and on all endpoints inside the perimeter (or at least on all computers where email is allowed). Generation facilities are being targeted with greater frequency in “denial-of-service” (“DoS”) attacks which are aimed at exploiting vulnerabilities in an entity’s firewall. In total 1485 modifications of malware from 633 different malware families were blocked. Such phishing attacks are just a first-stage activity aimed at infecting a computer with spyware (such as LokiBot, FormBook, AgentTesla, Remcos), which is often used in the second stage and is designed to collect information and to deliver the last-stage malware – ransomware or a crypto miner. If possible, restrict SeDebugPrivilege for applications. Monitor the execution of files in the organization and use application control with. This is why DOE is committed to working with the private sector to increase cyber security and resiliency in the prevention of cyber-attacks. With the increasing adoption of the Internet of Things, concerns about the vulnerability of the nation’s power system will become even more pronounced. State-owned energy sector EPE suffers cyber attack. Disable script execution in Microsoft Office on all computers. Government and energy sector entities in Azerbaijan were targeted by an unknown group focused on the SCADA systems of wind turbines. energy sector as viewed by the EECSP-Expert Group. The state-owned Energy Research Company (EPE), linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, suffered a cyber attack on Tuesday and some services needed to be shut down preventively. Cyberthreats for ICS in Energy in Europe. Cyber attacks on Energy sector including Power Grids and Nuclear power will have devastating economic affecting millions of people and impact military operations. Click here to read more about how we use cookies. Our previous entry discussed the CCPA. 0. the nation’s gas pipeline system consists of approximately 2.7 million miles of pipeline across the U.S.; TSA has just six employees dedicated to this oversight, which amounts to 450,000 miles of pipeline oversight per employee, according to FERC Chairman Neil Chaterjee’s. Published: Thursday, December 17, 2020. On a company-by-company basis, however, many energy players are underfunding cyber. Threats May Be Cyber or Physical. Make sure that the organization is well protected from phishing campaigns, including targeted attacks. Use different accounts for different users. Configure the OS to always show file extensions for all file types. According to a new Cyber Threat Ranking Table from Hiscox, built from a global study on cyber readiness, energy companies in the UK were among the most likely to experience one or more cyber incidents over the last 12 months.. There has been no cyber related-successful attack against the supply of energy in the United States. The new year is shaping up to be a year of giant leaps for cybersecurity and the energy sector. Inadequate Oversight for National Gas Pipelines. the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”). Facebook. This includes Windows computers on which various software packages for the energy industry are installed, including but not limited to human-machine interface (HMI), OPC gateway, engineering, control and data acquisition software. ... Other attacks in 2020 include a ransomware attack on Taiwan’s state-owned energy … Ransomware Attack Exposes Poor Energy-Sector Cybersecurity (Feb. 24, 2020) America’s Electric Grid Has a Vulnerable Back Door—and Russia Walked Through It (Jan. 10, 2019) ... 2020… If possible, disable the Windows Script Host on all computers where running scripts is not necessary. For some European countries, we compared the percentage of all ICS computers on which malware was blocked with the same percentage for ICS computers in the energy industry: In a number of countries — Switzerland, Sweden, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, and Belarus — the percentage of ICS computers in the energy industry on which malware was blocked was higher than the corresponding percentage for all ICS computers in these countries. These mimic emails sent by various well-known industrial companies. We use cookies to make your experience of our websites better. The chart below shows a comparison of the percentage of all ICS computers on which threats from the internet were blocked in European countries with a similar percentage for ICS computers in the energy sector in Q1 2020. The digital energy sector includes five factors that increase its vulnerability to digital disruption or cyber threats: 1. Ransomware Attack Exposes Poor Energy-Sector Cybersecurity (Feb. 24, 2020) America’s Electric Grid Has a Vulnerable Back Door—and Russia Walked Through It (Jan. 10, 2019) These included a variety of multifunctional spyware (4.4%) designed to steal authentication data and enabling attackers to remotely control infected computers in automatic and manual modes, as well as ransomware (1%) and exploits for popular office software (3.4%) embedded in documents delivered via phishing emails and used to deploy spyware and ransomware – threats that are particularly dangerous and could negatively affect the availability and integrity of ICS systems and networks. However, several characteristics of the energy sector heighten the risk and impact of cyberthreats against utilities (Exhibit 1). In 2016 alone, the sector reported 59 incidents, 20 percent of the 290 total incidents reported in that year. For example, sources estimate that by the end of 2018, almost two million residential solar PV systems had been installed, more than 11,000 homes had residential energy storage units, nearly 900,000 electric vehicle chargers were in use, and more than 20 million homes used smart thermostats. It’s best not to allow office-type applications inside the OT perimeter and on critical IT computers. Getty. Install all OS and application software updates in a timely fashion, with a particular emphasis on security updates, or apply workaround protection measures when installing updates is not an option. A key player in the U.K. electricity market has fallen victim to a cyber-attack. The cyberthreats facing electric-power and gas companies include the typical threats that plague other industries: data theft, billing fraud, and ransomware. The reason behind such a high rate of email threats in Energy compared to all ICS is insufficient control of access to corporate and internet email services from electrical engineering workstations, which usually have access to ICS and corporate networks (as well as the internet) at the same time, and electrical engineering laptops, which have even more access (i.e., are less stringently controlled) than workstations, especially if used outside the security perimeter. By any empirical measure, the current level of TSA’s oversight of pipeline infrastructure is inadequate: Given: (1) that natural gas now generates 35% of electricity nationally; (2) that the gas and electric industries are now integrally related; and (3) the growing vulnerability of both to cyberattacks, the disparate treatment of the two industries for cybersecurity purposes becomes increasingly more difficult to justify. TOKYO: Crude prices climbed more than 1 per cent on Monday after a major cyber attack that forced the shutdown of critical fuel supply pipelines in the United States, highlighting the fragility of oil … Specifically, the percentage of ICS computers in the energy sector that were affected by internet threats was 2.7 percentage points (p.p.) The attack is part of the huge SolarWinds hack that has hit other government agency systems and critical infrastructure. In April 2020, the Portuguese multinational energy giant Energias de Portugal (EDP) was hit with Ragnar Locker ransomware, wherein the hackers stole 10 TB of sensitive company files, and asked for 1580 BTC ($10.9M or €9.9M) in ransom. Limit the use of privileged accounts. We highly recommend that all industrial related companies in Europe should secure their website development, maintenance and content publishing processes to prevent possible targeted attacks in the present and future. Compounding the issue is that, in order to increase customer participation, the software offered to run these programs is intended to be simple and user-friendly, creating ample opportunities for adversaries to gain access to, control them, and ultimately use them to compromise the system. April 2020. The percentage of ICS computers in the energy sector in Europe on which malware was blocked in the first quarter of 2020 is comparable to the same percentage for the fourth quarter of 2019, whereas the percentage of all ICS computers in Europe on which malware was blocked in the first quarter or 2020 is significantly lower than the same percentage for the fourth quarter of 2019. When possible, admins should use accounts with local administration privileges or with administration rights to specific services and avoid using accounts with domain administration rights. Oversight for cybersecurity currently rests with at least five separate agencies: This hodgepodge of regulatory oversight has not only failed to keep pace with the emerging cyber-threats to our bulk power system, but has contributed to the grid’s increasing vulnerability. The pace of digitalisation in the energy sector may potentially outpace cyber defence and digital management capabilities, resulting in greater exposure to risk. However, only 68% have a cyber insurance policy, and the mean budget … The consequences of a wide-spread attack on our critical infrastructure could not only be a loss for the organizations, but could be deadly to those who use their services – hospitals, schools, and government organizations. 18. In 2018, Secretary Brouillette signed and endorsed the Cybersecurity Strategy of 2018-2020, a strategy that outlines the vision to secure the Department of Energy. At the same time, a comparison of TOP threat types shows a more significant deviation of the percentage of ICS computers in Energy in Europe from the similar percentage of all ICS computers in Europe in Q1 2020. This website uses cookies to improve user experience, track anonymous site usage, store authorization tokens and permit sharing on social media networks. Steps that could be taken now include: Absent leadership on this issue, foreign state-sponsored actors, as well as individual actors, will continue to exploit the opportunities created by our inertia. TSA has no mandatory compliance or reporting requirements with respect to cybersecurity, and relies exclusively on company self-reporting. Among typical phishing emails, such as parcel shipping notifications, invoices, payment orders, RFQ, and phishing exploiting other popular themes like COVID-19, some targeted emails were detected. © Foley Hoag LLP - Security, Privacy and the Law var today = new Date(); var yyyy = today.getFullYear();document.write(yyyy + " "); | Attorney Advertising. In Q1 2020, 504 modifications of malware from 170 malware families were blocked, which had been delivered to ICS computers in the energy sector in Europe via email clients. Continuously monitor the use of such services and check whether it is legitimate from the security policy standpoint. In early November 2019, more than 6,500 government officials and many of the biggest players in the energy sector came together to conduct a simulated cyber-attack on the electrical grid. The US cybersecurity agency has warned it poses a serious risk. Use the sandbox technology to check all new files found on computers on the network, especially email attachments and files downloaded from the internet. the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”); the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”); the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”); and. Cybersecurity 2020 — The Year in Preview: The Energy Sector’s Growing Vulnerability to Cyberattack Posted on December 17th, 2019 by Carol Holahan Editors’ Note: This is the second in our fourth-annual end-of-year series examining important trends in data privacy and cybersecurity … Audit the use of privileged accounts and regularly review access rights. In qualitative terms, the threat landscape for ICS computers in the energy sector in the first quarter of 2020 was different from that for all ICS computers. April 2020. Up next: a look into how changes in privacy laws are affecting business transactions. This finding comes despite 84% of energy firms having a dedicated cyber security role. A single attack … Maximize granular access control. The graph below compares the percentage of all ICS computers in European countries on which malware was blocked in email attachments with a similar percentage for ICS computers in the energy sector. Pinterest. Statistics for H2 2020, Network Asset Traversal or NATural disaster: NAT Slipstreaming 2.0, More critical vulnerabilities identified in OPC protocol implementations, Targeted attacks on industrial companies using Snake ransomware (updated). adoption of regulations that establish protocols for information sharing with other agencies as necessary to protect both the proper functioning of the grid and national security. The threat of such attacks raises concerns regarding the vulnerability of the nation’s bulk power system to cyber incidents. designed to infect a machine with spyware or a ransomware threat. 1. At the same time, such a transition is a key reason for energy sector to now become a target for cyberattacks, which can provoke physical damage. 11 February 2020. For more information please contact: ics-cert@kaspersky.com. The Ukrainian utility hacks, revelations of sensitive data exfiltration from all types of businesses, and publicized municipal ransomware attacks served as potent examples of the impacts of cyber security failures. The industry is ill-prepared for such attacks, security experts said. The phishing websites use search engine optimization to lure unsuspecting users searching for various news, goods, free software and media files. In short, there is a growing recognition in the energy sector that all energy resources are vulnerable to cyberattack. A report by the Government Accounting Office (“GAO”) issued earlier this year, examined critical infrastructure protection and outlined the actions needed to address what it deemed “significant cybersecurity risks facing the electric grid.” The report identified key “threat actors,” increasing vulnerability resulting from “smart” interconnections, and discussed the potential impact on the grid based on the current lack of a coordinated cybersecurity plan.
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