In my 25 years working in the water sector, I spent a lot of time working with PLC’s, OIT’s, HMI’s and SCADA systems while commissioning treatment plants. During this time I would regularly connect remotely to these devices (as many engineers still do) to check on the plant performance or to change operating setpoints.
5 years ago, I started taking an interest in cybersecurity, specifically for industrial control systems. I trained in ethical hacking and this knowledge base and set of tools opened my eyes to how exposed our critical assets are. That’s why I started Eldershine.
Currently, about a third of global hacks are against industrial control systems. This doesn’t include the attacks that go undetected.
As equipment suppliers improve the reliability of their products through remote visibility to instruments/pumps/blowers they also provide access points to often outdated, unpatched OT networks that historically, were air gapped from the internet.
So, take an interest in who’s protecting your:

  • drinking water,
  • the integrity of your food and beverages,
  • the availability of critical hospital services,
  • or even the stability of your energy supply.

We certainly are.