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Ars technica - Computer intrusion inflicts massive damage on German steel factory
A German steel factory suffered significant damage after attackers gained unauthorized access to computerized systems that help control its blast furnace, according to a report published Friday by IDG News.
The attackers took control of the factory's production network through a spear phishing campaign, IDG said, citing a [pdf] report published Wednesday by the German government's Federal Office for Information Security. Once the attackers compromised the network, individual components or possibly entire systems failed.
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Computer Intrusion Inflicts Massive Damage on German Steel Factory
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You fill a much-needed gap.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Sunday December 21 2014, @07:22PM
All the more reason for an air gap...and that means no wifi or bluetooth control either.
Yeah, I'm not sure a manual shutdown is a good idea, but the control system should not be remotely accessible, and it should probably have a manually switchable backup system in place. (i'm guessing about the relative cost of a blast furnace and its control system, but I think it's a pretty reasonable guess.)
Of course, the backup controls means you need a decent way to tell that they are working, so an automatic switch between systems every time you restart the system seems reasonable. Or perhaps every week, with someone standing by watching the meters so they can do the manual switch if necessary.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.