74
1 Information Weapon: Concepts, Means, Methods …
sequence of instructions execution is changed. As a rule, at the compilation stage, a
special polymorphic generator is added to the software, which performs the following
modifications of the program’s machine code during operation [37]:
– Rearrangement, change of instructions sequence, placing them in random order;
– Addition of “garbage commands”;
– Introduction of insignificant variables;
– Change of self-modification procedure, etc.
1.7 Cybersecurity of Power Facilities: Past, Present,
and Future
1.7.1 Introduction
Statistics available gives sufficient evidence that after 2010 the infrastructural and
industrial facilities virtually all over the world have been being suffered from
cyberattacks featuring mainly covertness, suddenness, and selectivity.
All the governments heed particular attention to protection of energy sector which
is essential for failure-free and reliable functioning of many other critical sectors of
national infrastructure, like transport network, finances, defense, social services,
communication networks, and lot of others.
By the results of the study performed by global insurance agency March in 2015
nearly 25% of big power generating plants in the USA were subjected to detrimental
cyberattacks.
The greatest challenge in the sphere of ensuring cybersecurity for power generating companies is integrated risk management for all digital devices of power supply
networks. For instance, one of the major power providers in Russia controls 2.34 mln.
kilometers of power supply lines and 502 thousand of transformer plants. The concept
of “smart” energy industry presumes that each transformer plant is equipped with its
digital devices and software which accumulates the information and transfer it for
analysis to centralized stores.
One can easily picture the scale of disaster should “black hat” hackers get access
to such national power supply network. Cyberattack in such a case may ensue in data
loss and failures in operation of IT infrastructure, may put in jeopardize the integrity
of security systems and result in interruptions in power supply to the public, cause
grave irreparable harm to corporate image.
It should be mentioned that all the companies of oil and gas industry both in
the USA and Russia also fall into Power facility category. The problem of assuring
cybersecurity in these industries is also extremely important in terms of national
security. And in this sphere the trend when the number of cyberattacks increases is
obvious.
Thus in 2012 running of Saudi Aramco (national oil company of Saudi Arabia)
was shut down for a few weeks because of the attack by malicious software Shamoon
1 Information Weapon: Concepts, Means, Methods …
sequence of instructions execution is changed. As a rule, at the compilation stage, a
special polymorphic generator is added to the software, which performs the following
modifications of the program’s machine code during operation [37]:
– Rearrangement, change of instructions sequence, placing them in random order;
– Addition of “garbage commands”;
– Introduction of insignificant variables;
– Change of self-modification procedure, etc.
1.7 Cybersecurity of Power Facilities: Past, Present,
and Future
1.7.1 Introduction
Statistics available gives sufficient evidence that after 2010 the infrastructural and
industrial facilities virtually all over the world have been being suffered from
cyberattacks featuring mainly covertness, suddenness, and selectivity.
All the governments heed particular attention to protection of energy sector which
is essential for failure-free and reliable functioning of many other critical sectors of
national infrastructure, like transport network, finances, defense, social services,
communication networks, and lot of others.
By the results of the study performed by global insurance agency March in 2015
nearly 25% of big power generating plants in the USA were subjected to detrimental
cyberattacks.
The greatest challenge in the sphere of ensuring cybersecurity for power generating companies is integrated risk management for all digital devices of power supply
networks. For instance, one of the major power providers in Russia controls 2.34 mln.
kilometers of power supply lines and 502 thousand of transformer plants. The concept
of “smart” energy industry presumes that each transformer plant is equipped with its
digital devices and software which accumulates the information and transfer it for
analysis to centralized stores.
One can easily picture the scale of disaster should “black hat” hackers get access
to such national power supply network. Cyberattack in such a case may ensue in data
loss and failures in operation of IT infrastructure, may put in jeopardize the integrity
of security systems and result in interruptions in power supply to the public, cause
grave irreparable harm to corporate image.
It should be mentioned that all the companies of oil and gas industry both in
the USA and Russia also fall into Power facility category. The problem of assuring
cybersecurity in these industries is also extremely important in terms of national
security. And in this sphere the trend when the number of cyberattacks increases is
obvious.
Thus in 2012 running of Saudi Aramco (national oil company of Saudi Arabia)
was shut down for a few weeks because of the attack by malicious software Shamoon