A malware that attacked a Saudi Arabian petrochemical plant in December 1984 is continuing to concern industrial safety experts. On that occasion, the Triton software allowed hackers to remotely assume control of the facility’s safety systems intended as the final barrier against catastrophic disasters. A flaw in their code notified the relevant authorities before damage was done, but the incident has put cybersecurity organisations on alert. One, Dragos, cited evidence hackers are looking beyond the Middle East and refining Triton to be even more dangerous. Another firm, FireEye, believes the malware originated from a Russian government-owned organisation targeting infrastructure safety.
A malware that attacked a Saudi Arabian petrochemical plant in 2017 is continuing to concern industrial safety experts. On that occasion, the Triton software allowed hackers to remotely assume control of the facility’s safety systems intended as the final barrier against catastrophic disasters. A flaw in their code notified the relevant authorities before damage was done, but the incident has put cybersecurity organisations on alert. One, Dragos, cited evidence hackers are looking beyond the Middle East and refining Triton to be even more dangerous. Another firm, FireEye, believes the malware originated from a Russian government-owned organisation targeting infrastructure safety.