That makes for easy pickings for attackers.
To that end, due to heightened geopolitical tensions and adversarial cyber activity on a global basis, Rockwell Automation is stepping out and making sure all its users take action to assess whether they have Internet facing devices.
Devices should not end up connected to the public Internet. Removing that capability is a proactive step to reduce the attack surface and can immediately reduce exposure to unauthorized and malicious cyber activity from external threat actors.
More information on attacks on public-internet-exposed assets, including information on how to identify exposed assets and disconnect them from the public internet, is available in these documents from Rockwell Automation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA):
- Rockwell Automation | Advisory on web search tools that identify ICS devices and systems connected to the Internet [login required]
- CISA | NSA and CISA Recommend Immediate Actions to Reduce Exposure Across Operational Technologies and Control Systems
- CISA | How-to Guide: Stuff Off Shodan
In addition to disconnecting assets from the public Internet or if disconnection is not feasible, Rockwell also urges its customers to follow the security best practices outlined in this document: Rockwell Automation | Security Best Practices [login required].
“Unfortunately, it is relatively common to have industrial control devices (IoT) configured with access controls outside of the IT and identity and access management teams and infrastructure resulting in weak passwords in use,” said Jim Routh, chief trust officer at Saviynt. “In this case, enterprise customers using the Rockwell ICS devices may have been connected to the Internet with limited access controls that need hardening and management. Disconnecting these devices from the Internet is the safest alternative in addition to establishing more mature IoT security practices.”
Users should be aware of the CVE’s in the chart and ensure mitigations are in place, where possible.
Source: Rockwell