South Korea orders urgent review of energy infrastructure cybersecurity

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Energy and Infrastructure has ordered a review of the cybersecurity preparedness of the nation’s energy infrastructure. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Seung-wook convened a meeting yesterday, saying it was needed considering the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline that …

[sanmigueelbeer]

PortDoor: New Chinese APT Backdoor Attack Targets Russian Defense Sector

PortDoor: New Chinese APT Backdoor Attack Targets Russian Defense Sector

The threat actor is specifically targeting the Rubin Design Bureau, a part of the Russian defense sector designing submarines for the Russian Federation’s Navy.

[Anonymous Coward]

Is transportation by road so special?

I’ve seen a lot of reporting about permitting the transport of fuel on highways. Having seen many tanker trucks traveling along US roads, I want to know what restrictions existed prior to the recent changes. Was there a limit to how far fuel could travel via truck?

[IGotOut]

Re: Is transportation by road so special?

Cost.

That simple.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: Is transportation by road so special?

And sheer practicality, at least as far as pipeline replacement goes. At one end there's a huge (relative to tanker size) source and at the other a huge receiver. Somehow you've got to get tiddly tanker connections into those and then take off tiddly tanker sized portions at one end, receive them at the other and get them back into whatever sort of storage or process the pipeline was feeding.

In the early '90s there was a water shortage in part of West Yorkshire. Yorkshire Water got hold of every tanker capable of carrying potable liquids (another constraint on availability of tankers is what they're specified to carry) so that commuting along the M62 I passed tankers coming the other way about twice a minute between Keilder and Scammonden. It served its purpose in providing a minimal supply until there was adequate rainfall but it wasn't at normal volumes and it wasn't sustainable.

Nowadays there's a water distribution grid to avoid that. I hope it's secure.

[deive]

Re: Is transportation by road so special?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/10/parts-of-england-could-run-out-of-water-within-20-years-warn-mps

[erikscott]

Re: Is transportation by road so special?

The waivers the last few days now allow drivers hauling fuel to work for up to 14 hour shifts, instead of the previous 11 hour limit. Some states have also suspended the 80,000 pound weight limit for in-state loads.

The exact impact this will have is not completely clear. While the law is one thing, insurance companies are another, and just because something is suddenly legal doesn't mean your insurance carrier will permit it. Also, tank trailers are made more or less exactly the right size to hit the 80,000 pound combined limit with the smallest, cheapest trailer possible. I don't know how many trailers could hold an extra thousand gallons even if the operator wanted to.

(icon because a fourteen hour driver running grossly heavy could well result in one of those)

[Potemkine!]

“In the wake of the disruption, it is necessary to thoroughly examine whether cybersecurity preparations and countermeasures for our energy-related infrastructure are properly in place,”

I'm guessing the answer: No.

You get what you pay for, and if like (quite) anywhere money was the first criteria when building and maintaining the system, cybersecurity was sacrificed.

[sitta_europea]

"“In the wake of the disruption, it is necessary to thoroughly examine whether cybersecurity preparations and countermeasures for our energy-related infrastructure are properly in place,” the minister said..."

And it wasn't before?

[Paul Crawford]

Enact a law to make board of directors liable for any major incident unless they can prove they took every step to prevent it. I.e. reverse the burden of proof.

Then watch the IT budgets transform!

[A random security guy]

Yup. That should work. Will not happen, though.

[sanmigueelbeer]

Toshiba unit struck by DarkSide ransomware group

Toshiba unit struck by DarkSide ransomware group