Critical infrastructure execs fear China

Operators of electrical grids, telecommunications networks, and other critical infrastructure say their systems are under constant attack, often from sophisticated nation-states, according to a poll of 600 IT executives in 14 countries who oversee such networks. The findings come two weeks after Google said it and at least 20 …

[Will Godfrey]

They Are All Quite Wrong

Their greatest enemy is their own shareholders.

Maximize profits, minimize costs and never mind that the system has more holes than a colander!

[Anonymous Coward]

There has to be a venue for good practice?

And if so that venue is best placed in the United Nations for as the BBC puts it "nations speak piece unto nations"?

[John Sanders]

So...

Can anyone care to explain why critical systems are connected to a public network like the Internet?????

Back in the day we used to use leased lines for important things... like money, the banks did it with payment gateways.

I do not understand....

[Trevor Pott o_O]

@Josh Sanders

Will Godfrey's comment answers this question nicely.

[jake]

Ouch.

"Operators of electrical grids, telecommunications networks, and other critical infrastructure say their systems are under constant attack, often from sophisticated nation-states, according to a poll of 600 IT executives in 14 countries who oversee such networks."

Years & years and years ago we said "NCP (later TCP/IP) is not secure, and never will be. Don't use ARPANET (later "TheInternet") for stuff that needs confidentiality or security" ... Would the fucking idiots in charge listen? Noooooo ... Assholes. Now we have to pick up after their mindless bumbling cost cutting. Again.

"Eighty percent of those who oversaw SCADA, or supervisory control and data acquisition, equipment and ICS, or industrial control systems, said their networks were connected to the internet or other IP network, and a little more than half of them said the connection created an "unresolved security issue.""

Eighty fucking percent? Holy shit! Even more holy shit that only "a little more than half" thought it an unresolved security issue! What the fuck are the fizz-heads in charge thinking?

Sorry for channeling the (thankfully gone) "Fail & you", but those numbers are staggering ...

[Anonymous Coward]

So assuming the numbers being reported are accurate

that would mean China is the world's largest threat and the US is the second biggest threat, because each would be using bot nets in the other's country. I mean what moron would launch and attack from his own traceable system?

[Ondrej Doubek]

Thank good for crank powered torches...

...bicycles, camping stoves and everything else that will keep functioning without connection to any network, powergrid or other infrastructure.

Mine is the one with the "boyscouts survivalguide" in the pocket...