U.S. Infrastructure Can Be Hacked With Google, Simple Passwords
Authorities say the Iranian computer hack of a New York dam is the symptom of a huge weakness in the U.S. infrastructure -- dams, stadiums, traffic controls and power grids that can be accessed by anyone, including hostile nations or terrorists -- with simple passwords or no passwords at all.
New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said that the 2013 hack of the Bowman Avenue Dam in Rye Brook, N.Y., was a "frightening new frontier" of cybercrime that's "scary to think about." The lead investigator of the case said it was a "game-changing event." U.S. officials believe that hackers were probing for weaknesses in hopes of hitting bigger targets later.
Authorities are worried about these attacks because the threat is growing exponentially, and despite years of warnings America's private sector has been woefully slow to adapt. About 6.4 billion devices and control systems will be connected to the Internet in 2016, a 30 percent spike over 2015, according to a new report. By 2020, nearly 21 billion will be online.
The rise of what the cyber community calls "the Internet of Things" (IoT) -- the way in which objects, equipment and buildings are now linked to the web and each other and send and receive data - has ushered in a new era of security vulnerabilities. Hackers can remotely seize control of a spectrum of critical public and private infrastructure. Many of these targets are run by Industrial Control Systems that were designed before cybersecurity became crucial.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-infrastructure-can-be-hacked-google-simple-passwords-n548661
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