There is reason to believe that an Illinois water system has been compromised, and the source of the attack has been traced back to a computer in Russia (no surprise). Supposedly, the intruders burned out a pump by utilizing access to stolen credentials that gave them access to there SCADA software.
Its widely known that critical infrastructure in America is severely insecure. There's been a call from many security professionals over the past decade to tighten security on these systems, and protect our infrastructure. With highly sophisticated malware being created to attack SCADA equipment, like Stuxnet and Duqu, its only a matter of time before these hacks start taking place more frequently.
Its seems like the hackers were only "testing the water", sorry about the pun, with what they could do with their access. What if they wanted to do something more malicious to these systems besides breaking them? The water supply would reach thousands if not millions of people. What if they hit the power grid, and turned off power to parts of the country? These things, as unbelievable as they may seem, are what we're facing now.
The government is downplaying what happened here in Illinois, but they need to start securing their systems before innocent people die. This isn't a trojan thats going to steal your banking credentials. These hacks have the capability to stop a town and or state, and potentially harm the citizens living in them.
The time to act it now.
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