Posts Tagged ‘SCADA’
Tuesday, June 24, 2014 @ 05:06 PM gHale
By Gregory Hale
You are under attack and you don’t even know it.
That was the subject of a demonstration and talk Tuesday entitled “ICS Security Today Awareness and Practice” at the 2014 Siemens Automation Summit.
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“We are trying to protect people, production, property, environment and the economy,” said Marc Ayala, senior technical advisor at security provider Cimation. He talked about how many people that are qualified and actually know something about enterprise security and the number he came up with was 50,000 true experts. When it comes to Industrial Control System (ICS) or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) security, Ayala said there were “500 people that know ICS security.”
The industries most likely targeted, Ayala said, were energy and transportation.
One of the first things a user needs to accomplish is to evaluate risk, said Eric Forner, ICS/SCADA security engineer at Cimation.
Threats are coming from hackers that could be conducting automated attacks, or from nation states that develop exploits and know how control systems work, Forner said. A third area is from internal attacks, “which is more of a threat than the other two.”
Another area that is a big attack area and has the potential to get bigger is social media attacks, Ayala said.
All you have to do is send a person a malicious email with an attachment from a person they may be familiar with and that person now becomes a victim.
“That is the pivot point where an attacker can then go in and start viewing the system,” Ayala said. “You have to be very careful with who you connect with.”
Keeping bad guys out of the system is vital as the demonstration by Forner proved.
In the demo, Forner was able to bypass a firewall and jump right into a system and take it over.
Most firewalls are usually in place because a standard has told people to put them in, but they end up having an “allow anything command,” Forner said.
That ends up being important as Forner was able to use various commands to work his way through a PLC without too much of a problem.
But the way in to any system is through IP addresses found on the Internet, the researchers said.
One of the problems, Forner said, was the industry’s reliance on incredibly old Modbus/TCP protocol.
Port 502 is the Modbus TCP port and it is one of the top ports under attack,” Ayala said.
In the demo, there was a level transmitter that would shut the system down when the fluid reached a certain level, but when they issued a few commands to get into the system, they essentially owned the process.
When that happened all indicators showed the operator the tank was not at an overflow level and is actually decreasing, but in reality the tank ended up overflowing. They were able to override the safety interlock and take down the process.
As an extra added bonus, after overflowing the tank, the researchers then took command of the HMI in the system and downloaded a game of solitaire.
Yes, this was a demo at a conference, but that could be a real life experience that could cause an incident.
“Cyber security in ICS/SCADA is a life safety issue and must be treated as such,” Ayala said. “Safety is everywhere and it is constant. With all our total interconnections, safety is all the time now.”
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 @ 07:06 PM gHale
By Gregory Hale
There are heavy challenges facing automation professionals in the years to come and cyber security ranks up there at the top.
“There are issues like skills availability, working in remote locations and cyber security,” said Vimal Kapur, the brand new president of Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) during his keynote address Tuesday at the 2014 Honeywell Users Group in San Antonio, TX. “We can’t ignore (cyber security). It is an undesired event and we have to do something about it.”
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Kapur, just named president of HPS in May, talked about trends and outlooks he sees in the industry. While newly named as president, Kapur has been with Honeywell for 25 years so he is very aware of industry nuances and trends.
One of the areas he wants to focus on collaborating to ensure global coverage as the world markets emerge from long standing recessions.
“China and the Americas continue to lead in capital spending, but Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) and Asia Pacific are recovering,” he said.
Closer to home in North America, Kapur said natural gas is continuing its growth curve.
“The Americas oil and gas industries continue to dominate capital spending in the region, especially as they migrate to new natural gas sources,” said Kapur. “These changes have been having a profound impact for the past two or three years, and this trend is going to continue for several more years.”
He also pointed out how Honeywell will be able to leverage its capabilities in upstream oil and gas, midstream and downstream with new SCADA, RTU, DCS, safety, advanced and field instrumentation solutions.
Also understanding and designing the systems properly from the beginning is more vital now than it ever has been.
“Large capital expenditure projects are growing more complex, expensive and time-consuming. So instead of us coming in and adding automation and control at the end of a project before start-up, it’s becoming critical for us to execute automation and get it out of the critical path of these projects,” Kapur said.
Planning the project is one thing, but the next step is applying operational integrity and operational excellence.
“Being able to accomplish operational integrity means operating safely. Operational excellence means running a process more efficiently,” he said. “That all includes making people and assets safer, and running processes more reliably.”
One other trend Kapur discussed was cloud computing.
“Cloud computing in automation has huge potential,” Kapur said. “That is something that is happening now; not something that will happen in the future.”
Another trend is universality, Kapur said. By that he said there would be one universal device that handles multiple capabilities. A case in point is a smartphone that can handle computing, video, phone and general communications capabilities.
In the past one device could handle one function, but why not have one device that handles multiple functions.
He then translated that to the Honeywell environment where, in one case, he pointed to Universal IO which transformed from a single device to one that can handle multiple tasks.
Universal I/O and cloud computing capabilities form the core of the company’s Lean Execution of Automation Projects (LEAP) program for taking automation out of the critical path on customers’ projects.
The goal behind LEAP is to cut engineering time
- No repeat engineering
- Drives efficiency
- Lean execution
- Standardized processes and tools
Monday, April 28, 2014 @ 10:04 AM gHale
There is a directory traversal vulnerability affecting the InduSoft Web Studio application, according to a report on ICS-CERT.
Successful exploitation of this remotely exploitable vulnerability could allow remote execution of arbitrary code. This vulnerability ended up reported by the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) who received the initial dispatch from security researcher John Leitch.
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Web Studio Version 7.1 suffers from the issue.
Successful exploitation of the reported vulnerability could allow an attacker to read files outside the web root and possibly perform arbitrary code execution. These actions can result in adverse application conditions and ultimately impact the production environment on which the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system works.
InduSoft Web Studio is a collection of automation tools to develop human-machine interfaces, SCADA systems, and embedded instrumentation systems.
InduSoft Web Studio often ends up integrated as a third-party component in other vendors’ products. According to Austin, TX-based InduSoft, Web Studio sees uses across several sectors including commercial facilities, critical manufacturing, energy, food and agriculture, healthcare and public health, and water and wastewater systems.
The NTWebServer (test web server installed with InduSoft Web Studio) contains a flaw that enables a malicious user to read files outside the web root. This can end up exploited to read APP files that may contain application passwords. It may be possible to achieve remote code execution by exfiltrating credentials for Web Studio itself, then using them to remotely administer the targeted instance to deploy attacker controlled server-side code.
CVE-2014-0780 is the case number assigned to this vulnerability, which has a CVSS v2 base score of 7.5.
No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability. However, an attacker with a low skill would be able to exploit this vulnerability.
InduSoft did not intend for this web server to see action in real applications. It was a demonstration/training software (as stated in user manuals). They have created a mitigation for this vulnerability in InduSoft Web Studio v7.1+Service Pack 2+ Patch 4. Users may obtain this patch at the following location (you must log into your InduSoft account).
For more information, you can email InduSoft technical support.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 @ 01:03 PM gHale
“Attacks on control systems are on the rise.” But “budgets for cyber security in SCADA ICS environments remain very slim, and organizations continue to be dependent on limited resources and staffing to detect breaches and attacks,” said Matt Luallen, SANS Institute Analyst and author of a control system survey.
SANS released results of its 2014 Survey on control system security, in which 268 IT professionals answered questions about their overall risk awareness, trends in threats and breaches, and effective means to mitigate vulnerabilities with regard to supervisory control and data acquisition/industrial control system (SCADA/ICS).
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In the year since SANS’ last survey on this topic, the number of entities with identified or suspected security breaches increased from 28 percent to almost 40 percent. Only 9 percent said they were sure they did not suffer a breach.
Organizations want to be able to protect their systems and assets, which include computer systems, networks, embedded controllers, control system communication protocols and various physical assets. Respondents also noted they strive to protect public safety; increase leadership risk awareness; and expand controls pertaining to asset identification, communication channels and centralized monitoring.
Still, quite a few organizations do not or cannot collect data from some of the most critical SCADA and ICS assets, and many depend on trained staff, not tools, to detect issues. The survey also found 16 percent of respondents have no process in place to detect vulnerabilities.
The survey did note a tighter merging of ICS security and IT security, which was once a huge barrier to overcome.
“Respondents indicated that ICS security is being performed by specialists reporting to both engineering and IT,” said Derek Harp, business operations lead for ICS programs at SANS. “This places a real priority on cross-departmental coordination, effectively bridging competencies and building (as well as assessing) skill in an organized manner.”
Tuesday, January 14, 2014 @ 03:01 PM gHale
Schneider Electric created a new version of its SCADA Expert ClearSCADA software that mitigates an uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability, according to a report on ICS-CERT.
Adam Crain of Automatak, who discovered the problem along with independent researcher Chris Sistrunk, tested the new version to validate it resolves the remotely exploitable vulnerability.
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The following Schneider Electric versions suffer from the issue:
• ClearSCADA 2010 R2 (Build 71.4165)
• ClearSCADA 2010 R2.1 (Build 71.4325)
• ClearSCADA 2010 R3 (Build 72.4560)
• ClearSCADA 2010 R3.1 (Build 72.4644)
• SCADA Expert ClearSCADA 2013 R1 (Build 73.4729)
• SCADA Expert ClearSCADA 2013 R1.1 (Build 73.4832)
• SCADA Expert ClearSCADA 2013 R1.1a (Build 73.4903)
• SCADA Expert ClearSCADA 2013 R1.2 (Build 73.4955)
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may cause a denial of service (DoS) of the DNP3 process. Specially crafted, unsolicited frames may cause excessive event logging. This condition may slow driver operation and may lead to a DoS.
Schneider Electric is a France-based company that maintains offices in 190 countries worldwide.
ClearSCADA sees use across several sectors including energy and water and wastewater systems, according to Schneider Electric.
Specially crafted IP frames may cause DNP3Driver.exe to hang. If the DNP3 driver ends up flooded with frames containing multiple errors, an excessive number of event journal messages could end up logged, resulting in a starvation of resources, leading to a DoS attack. This condition cannot cause data corruption, crash the driver, or allow execution of arbitrary code but will affect operational response.
CVE-2013-6142 is the case number assigned to this vulnerability, which has a CVSS v2 base score of 4.3.
No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability. An attacker with a medium skill would be able to exploit this vulnerability.
Schneider Electric has fixed this issue in the latest released software version of SCADA Expert ClearSCADA 2013 R2.
ClearSCADA users should contact the local Schneider Electric office to obtain the latest software version for ClearSCADA; alternatively this new version is available for direct download from the Schneider Electric Web site. To upgrade, customers must complete and submit an online form.
Click here for general instructions on how to upgrade the ClearSCADA license.
Detailed instructions on how to upgrade a ClearSCADA installation are available.
Schneider Electric advises all ClearSCADA users to take steps to secure the interfaces to the ClearSCADA system. The following guidelines are a starting point only in establishing an appropriate level of system security:
• Monitor DNP3 traffic and system Event Journal to detect excessive amounts of traffic/logging that may be representative of a fuzzing attack.
• Upgrade the ClearSCADA server to SCADA Expert ClearSCADA 2013 R2 or newer, or Service Packs released later than November 2013.
Schneider Electric has also published security notification SEVD-2013-339-01.
The researchers suggest blocking DNP3 traffic from traversing onto business or corporate networks through the use of an intrusion prevention system or firewall with DNP3-specific rule sets to add an additional layer of protection.
Thursday, January 9, 2014 @ 03:01 PM gHale
Ecava Sdn Bhd created an update that mitigates the project directory information disclosure vulnerability in the IntegraXor application, according to a report from ICS-CERT.
Ecava Sdn Bhd IntegraXor – 4.1.4360 and earlier suffer from the remotely exploitable vulnerability. ICS-CERT received the report from the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) who got the details from security researcher “Alphazorx aka technically.screwed.”
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An attacker can use a crafted URL to download certain files in the project directory, compromising the confidentiality of the system.
Ecava Sdn Bhd is a Malaysia-based software development company that provides the IntegraXor SCADA product. Ecava Sdn Bhd specializes in factory and process automation solutions.
The affected product, IntegraXor, is a suite of tools used to create and run a Web-based human machine interface (HMI) for a SCADA system. IntegraXor is in several areas of process control in 38 countries with the largest installation based in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Poland, Canada, and Estonia.
IntegraXor does not properly restrict access to files in the project directory. An attacker may use a specially crafted URL to download project backup files from the system project directory without any authentication.
CVE-2014-0752 is the case number assigned to the vulnerability, which has a CVSS v2 base score of 7.5.
No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability, however, an attacker with a low skill would be able to exploit this vulnerability.
Ecava Sdn Bhd issued a notification that details this vulnerability and provides mitigations to its customers. Ecava Sdn Bhd recommends users download and install the update, IntegraXor SCADA Server 4.1.4369.
For additional information, click here to view Ecava’s vulnerability note.
Friday, November 8, 2013 @ 02:11 PM gHale
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the Practical SCADA Security blog at Tofino Security.
By Eric Byres
If you have been following SCADA news in the last month, you might have noticed an avalanche of reports and blogs on new security vulnerabilities in power industry equipment. So far, vulnerability disclosures for nine products using the DNP3 protocol have been released by the ICS-CERT, with another 21 SCADA product disclosures on their way. Even the New York Times and Wired Magazine have picked up this story.
Now, more vulnerabilities in SCADA products is hardly news, so why all the fuss?
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All 25 vulnerabilities have been discovered by just two researchers, Adam Crain and Chris Sistrunk, using an impressive new security test tool that Adam developed under his AEGIS Project. The scary part is Adam’s tool is finding these vulnerabilities in SCADA master stations, rather than just in the RTU and IED slave devices past tools have tested.
This introduces a new world of attack possibilities against the power industry. Successfully attack an RTU in a substation and you might knock that station off line. Successfully attack a SCADA master and you can knock a whole system off line.
To make matters worse, these attacks work great over serial links, not just TCP/IP networks. Since NERC-CIP exempts serial communications from any security controls, the hundreds of millions of dollars the power industry has spent to date to secure the power grid could be for naught.
NERC-CIP Electronic Security Perimeter Full of Holes
Last week Darren Highfill posted a blog explaining that the situation is worse than many thought. The vulnerabilities in DNP3 masters don’t even require that the attacker climb a fence:
“The first place that most people have started talking about these [DNP3] devices is a substation. Too many engineers are searching for ways to make themselves feel better because there is a fence and/or a locked building keeping the bad guys out. Maybe even a camera, too… no half-way informed attacker is going to mess with a substation when they have much easier access to many more pad-mount and pole-mount devices in more remote and less noticeable locations. With no cameras.”
Darren has a valid point – DNP3 communication links run into millions of physically insecure pad and pole devices around the world. Get at just one of these and you can control a much larger power system.
Darren’s scenario completely defeats NERC-CIP’s vision of an Electronic Security Perimeter (ESP): A pull-up-the-drawbridge model where everything (and everyone) bad is kept out by a perfect electronic fortress. To be effective against these attacks, NERC’s ESP now has to include the entire country. Like other bastion models of security that I have discussed in the past, the ESP concept is fatally flawed.
A Serious Technical Error
Unfortunately, I believe Darren makes a serious technical error in his discussion, which I will discuss in my blog next week. In the meantime, consider the fact this is NOT just a DNP3 or a power industry problem. Any ICS protocol that uses a master/slave (aka client/server) polling scheme (i.e. 99 percent of them) will suffer from similar vulnerabilities in the masters (aka clients). This means that any industry that has remote assets in poorly secured locations could be vulnerable to Darren’s proposed “client-side” attacks.
Think about these types of attacks the next time you drive by a sewage lift pump box in a suburban neighborhood. Or when you see an oil well at the side of a prairie road. These are all potential backdoors into much larger critical infrastructures. All it will take is another well designed test tool to find those backdoors in the devices using other ICS protocols like Modbus, EtherNet/IP or PROFINET. That, plus a few people with malicious intent.
Eric Byres is vice president and chief technology officer at Tofino Security. Click here to read the full version of the Practical SCADA Security blog.
