Pro-Russia hacktivists seek to compromise industrial control systems (ICS) and small-scale operational technology (OT) systems in various North American and European critical infrastructure sectors, including Water and Wastewater Systems, Dams, Energy, and Food and Agriculture Sectors. (Image: Courtesy news.sky.news)
Source: New Mexico Environment Department
With U.S. and international partners, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published a joint fact sheet, “Defending OT Operations Against Ongoing Pro-Russia Hacktivist Activity,” which provides information associated with cyber operations by pro-Russia hacktivists and includes recommended mitigations. These actors seek to compromise ICS by exploiting virtual network computing remote access software and default passwords used by modular ICS hardware, such as connected human machine interfaces.
Since 2022 and as recently as April 2024, pro-Russia hacktivists have continued malicious, but unsophisticated techniques, as open-source reporting has indicated activity ranging from distributed denial of service, data leaks, and data wiping. While known to exaggerate their capabilities and impacts, these actors were observed targeting vulnerable North American and European ICS and causing limited physical disruptions.
All OT operators in critical infrastructure sectors are encouraged to review the fact sheet and apply the recommended mitigations to reduce risk of compromise. Recommended actions include limit exposure of OT systems to the internet; immediately change all default passwords of OT devices; use strong, unique passwords; and implement multifactor authentication for all access to the OT network.
![Shopping Cart Ordinance Among Most Read Stories in 2024 [#10]](https://lascrucesdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/d4232c98-4af6-9a7d-cda9-ccc2add08ae6.jpg)