4 ms·

> If the U.S. intervenes, a retaliatory cyber op from Russia against critical infrastructure would make america amish again. Cyber crimes with significant impa

> If the U.S. intervenes, a retaliatory cyber op from Russia against critical infrastructure would make america amish again. Cyber crimes with significant impact are still in the realm of fiction. Scare mongering about it does not help. That said, one should not make stupid decision how to connect and control such infrastructure and you should prepare with working backups instead of another security product.

mensetmanusman 5y ago
Have family that are vp cybersecurity in infrastructure; I wish you were correct, but the free market went for quick and cheap implementations, not secure. Basically, no one wanted to bear all the costs of having secure infrastructure components, this is the tragedy of the commons that government is supposed to solve, but when all the leaders are over 70, it’s hard for them to grok the new reality.
- raxxorrax 5y ago
  Sure, it could happen. There were hospitals that got knocked out for weeks with as simple ransomware attack. If you have a dedicated hacker with means to acquire exploits, security is probably almost impossible. This is why effective mitigation is very likely the safer approach. Manual overrides or air gapped systems would help too. But it is wrong to panic about it. The best mitigation is boring, but yes, some investment in IT could really help.
- oauea 5y ago
  Got a link to a news article about such an event?
  - motohagiography 5y ago
    https://www.controleng.com/articles/throwback-attack-lessons-from-the-aurora-vulnerability/ https://www.controleng.com/articles/throwback-attack-lessons...
    - oauea 5y ago
      > A government-sponsored test So not an actual event.
      - mensetmanusman 5y ago
        An actual event would be an act of war. Base assumption is that most systems are currently compromised and on standby.
      - motohagiography 5y ago
        Maybe you missed Stuxnet / Olympic Games? Not sure how much ICS/SCADA security work you do, but there's a whole field dedicated to it. Can't tell if this is just someones narrative shaping work or sincere ignorance.
- joquarky 5y ago
  Anyone who has gone to a recent security conference and walked away feeling secure wasn't paying attention.
bronco21016 5y ago
Is it in the realm of science fiction because nobody has pulled the trigger yet? Or is it because the gun doesn’t exist? Ukraine has been subjected to Russian cyberattacks for nearly a decade now. They’ve accomplished knocking the power off multiple times. It would seem the gun exists. I don’t think it’s a stretch to imagine they could have some success with cyberattacks against the US. How impactful that would be to disrupting day to day life though is a question that remains to be answered. When the power was out in Texas recently, there was quite an impact. Imagine millions losing power in the rust belt in the winter. There would no doubt be loss of life and significant physical damage.
ramesh31 5y ago
>Cyber crimes with significant impact are still in the realm of fiction. Scare mongering about it does not help. I wish. The gas pipeline shutdown last year was just a rehearsal I imagine. If the Russian government went full send on a cyber attack, we would probably be completely fucked for months at this point.

mensetmanusman 5y ago

Have family that are vp cybersecurity in infrastructure; I wish you were correct, but the free market went for quick and cheap implementations, not secure. Basically, no one wanted to bear all the costs of having secure infrastructure components, this is the tragedy of the commons that government is supposed to solve, but when all the leaders are over 70, it’s hard for them to grok the new reality.

raxxorrax 5y ago
Sure, it could happen. There were hospitals that got knocked out for weeks with as simple ransomware attack. If you have a dedicated hacker with means to acquire exploits, security is probably almost impossible. This is why effective mitigation is very likely the safer approach. Manual overrides or air gapped systems would help too. But it is wrong to panic about it. The best mitigation is boring, but yes, some investment in IT could really help.
oauea 5y ago
Got a link to a news article about such an event?
- motohagiography 5y ago
  https://www.controleng.com/articles/throwback-attack-lessons-from-the-aurora-vulnerability/ https://www.controleng.com/articles/throwback-attack-lessons...
  - oauea 5y ago
    > A government-sponsored test So not an actual event.
    - mensetmanusman 5y ago
      An actual event would be an act of war. Base assumption is that most systems are currently compromised and on standby.
    - motohagiography 5y ago
      Maybe you missed Stuxnet / Olympic Games? Not sure how much ICS/SCADA security work you do, but there's a whole field dedicated to it. Can't tell if this is just someones narrative shaping work or sincere ignorance.
joquarky 5y ago
Anyone who has gone to a recent security conference and walked away feeling secure wasn't paying attention.

bronco21016 5y ago

Is it in the realm of science fiction because nobody has pulled the trigger yet? Or is it because the gun doesn’t exist? Ukraine has been subjected to Russian cyberattacks for nearly a decade now. They’ve accomplished knocking the power off multiple times. It would seem the gun exists. I don’t think it’s a stretch to imagine they could have some success with cyberattacks against the US. How impactful that would be to disrupting day to day life though is a question that remains to be answered. When the power was out in Texas recently, there was quite an impact. Imagine millions losing power in the rust belt in the winter. There would no doubt be loss of life and significant physical damage.

ramesh31 5y ago

>Cyber crimes with significant impact are still in the realm of fiction. Scare mongering about it does not help. I wish. The gas pipeline shutdown last year was just a rehearsal I imagine. If the Russian government went full send on a cyber attack, we would probably be completely fucked for months at this point.