So the pirates hit Russia

Someone thinks of Nero’s reincarnation and imagines him in the ranks of the Unknown. Repeated fires Russia It did not find any explanation and it is legitimate not to rule out the hand of hackers in provoking some incidents. If the hypothesis seems odd, it may be worth addressing the question by taking a hint from two primary considerations: how a fire might break out and what might. hacker.

If you think about warming remote-controlled plants, you realize that you are providing a reasonable answer to the “how” and “what” just taken into account.
In an age when there is so much talk about home automation and the advantages of being able to remotely control certain functions that previously required human intervention, it is not surprising that in the face of so many “professionals” there can be no contraindications or, trivially, weaknesses .

Moscow, fire at the Military Technologies Laboratory (third case in three days). Hypothesis: Created by hackers

The Hardware Those that generate heat (from boilers to air conditioning systems) are accessible – thanks to the appropriate devices built in or modified – if they are able to interact with the Internet and speak the same language that computers, tablets and smartphones usually use. The possibility of maneuvering through the network is not an absolute prerogative of those who have the right to do so: if effective security measures are not adopted, an attacker can establish a dialogue with those machines and, having taken control of these machines, can force them to work. Even abroad.Of the normal labor fee.

Entire buildings have always been targeted by cyber vandals, but the fiercest digital hackers have directed their advances toward industrial settlements. The size or importance of the prey is proportional to the impact of the raid on public opinion.

Weak points

Some time ago, building automation enthusiasts imagined a war in cities that could be launched by exploiting some of the vulnerabilities discovered in technological solutions for Tycoon Automatic, a Russian company specializing in equipment and computer software for intelligent systems that will be installed in buildings, commercial areas and production complexes. Someone started talking about a hundred particularly fragile and defenseless Tekon “controllers”. The ease of ascent was determined by horrendous procedural errors in the installation of these devices. Nothing Sci-Fi: No effort of imagination or imagination required. As often happens (even in our area), the credentials for accessing those systems (ie account and password) remained those specified by the manufacturer. These codes (for example the classic “admin”) were not secret at all, but were in the online documentation in pdf format, and therefore accessible to everyone. No technician has bothered to replace the identification of the authorized user with the relevant keyword: anyone with bad intentions can act unobtrusively without the need for special skills or experience.

Just like machines that overheat and catch on fire improperly, firefighting systems are easy to strike and can be blocked and isolated.
Collaboration between various high-tech gang organizations allowed for rapid identification of potential targets and related vulnerabilities. The exchange and continuous updating of available information is the basis for coordination of efforts. This is also a war. It has always been, and perhaps only today, it turns out that he can get to any place without moving a meter from the house. Some episodes make the Russians discover that their cities are also a land of occupation. We should think about it too, without waiting for something to happen.