Utilities, Refineries and Banks Are Victims of Cyber Attacks, Report Says

Companies that run key public infrastructure assets like electric utilities, oil refineries and banks are regularly victims of the kind of cyber attacks that recently penetrated Google Inc., according to a new report by a former top homeland security official, reports The Wall Street Journal.Cyber attacks are often coupled with extortion demands, according to the report commissioned by the computer antivirus company McAfee, which found that 20% of the 601 companies and government agencies surveyed said they had been a victim of such an attack within the past two years.To read this report in The Wall Street Journal in full, see:
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704878904575030873858657384.htmlAlso see:Survey of Executives Finds a Growing Fear of Cyberattacks
A survey of 600 computing and computer-security executives in 14 countries suggests that attacks on the Internet pose a growing threat to the energy and communication systems that underlie modern society.The findings, issued Thursday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the computer-security company McAfee, echoed alarms raised this month by Google after it experienced a wave of cyberattacks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/science/29cyber.htmlPower plants, other infrastructure face hackers
More than half of the operators of U.S. power plants and other “critical infrastructure” say in a new study that their computer networks have been infiltrated by sophisticated adversaries. In many cases, foreign governments are suspected.The findings come in a survey being released Thursday that offers a rare public look at the damage computer criminals can do to vital institutions such as power grids, water and sewage systems and oil and gas companies. Manipulating the computer systems can cause power outages, floods, sewage spills and oil leaks.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35124645/ns/technology_and_science-security/Critical infrastructure execs fear China
Operators of electrical grids, telecommunications networks, and other critical infrastructure say their systems are under constant attack, often from sophisticated nation-states, according to a poll of 600 IT executives in 14 countries who oversee such networks.The findings come two weeks after Google said it and at least 20 other companies in the internet, finance, technology, media, and chemical industries were victims of attacks that pierced their defenses to steal intellectual property. Google has said the attacks probably originated in China.
www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/28/critical_infrastructure_threat/Infrastructure prime target for cyberattacks [Reuters]
Every second critical infrastructure supplier has been a target of a cyberattack, a survey shows.Hackers frequently succeed in attacking businesses, security experts say, but companies rarely disclose the breaches because they are afraid of damaging their reputations and encouraging criminals.
www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE60R3YB20100128
www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/3274227/McAfee: Attacks on critical infrastructure are common
Cyberattacks on critical national infrastructure are common and are likely to increase, according to a report from McAfee.In a survey commissioned by the security company, a majority of IT executives said the critical infrastructure organisations they work at had come under attack, ranging from denial-of-service to attempts at stealthy infiltration.
news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,40010726,00.htm