NitroSecurity: Stuxnet Is Tip Of SCADA Exploit Iceberg

PRESS RELEASE

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – July 23, 2010 – NitroSecurity, Inc., the leader in high-performance, content-aware security information and event management solutions (SIEM), today issued guidance for critical infrastructure providers in the wake of the Windows Shell vulnerability (CVE-2010-2568) and the Stuxnet Trojan that initially targeted Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems from Siemens Corporation.

Much has been made of the vulnerabilities in Windows software and hard coded passwords in Siemens software that opened a door for infection of systems that in some cases are directly responsible for operating critical infrastructures such as electrical grids. While these are absolutely contributing factors in what some estimates place as high as 9,000 infection attempts per day, vastly more disturbing is the emergence of the first truly weaponized exploit to target SCADA systems. It’s an exploit that in one case already has had a widespread impact on the systems of a German manufacturer, but the full extent of the threat to process control systems is still being determined.

Security advisories to date have focused on the signatures and rules being put into place by Intrusion Prevention systems and antivirus. However, little-to-no guidance has been issued as to the steps that could be taken, and controls put in place, to head off the next Stuxnet – which could very well already be active and embedded in control networks now.

“We can’t simply focus on this or any specific vulnerability in isolation,” said Eric Knapp, director of Critical Infrastructure Markets for NitroSecurity. “In reality, there will always be vulnerabilities. The good news is that these are well-defined and controlled systems, and while criminals may attempt to exploit this predictability, they’ll never understand our own systems better than we do, and that gives us the advantage. Any variance in behavior is a clue, and can be used to catch them in the act.”

With a strong heritage in critical and federal systems infrastructure protection, and a focus on NERC CIP compliance, NitroSecurity recommends that asset owners assess current electronic security perimeters within the context of increasingly more sophisticated attacks. In order to properly secure critical systems, assume the worst—that all systems are fully reachable and vulnerable in multiple ways. As such, NitroSecurity recommends the following defensive best practices: