Digital attacks on control systems!

Boulting Technology, has released an infographic detailing history’s top five industrial computer viruses. The infographic educates industries that rely on computer control systems on how the lack of preventative measures against viruses and hackers can lead to costly downtime due to lost or stolen data.

The infographic is free to download here from Boulting Technology’s website.

Many industry sectors, such as manufacturing, rely on technology and the data it produces to aid production. Lost or corrupt data can lead to expensive downtime and can be difficult to restore.

Boulting Technology understands the importance of using preventative measures to avoid the consequences of leaving computer systems open to viruses. Its new infographic explains how some of the most notorious viruses of the digital age, such as Stuxnet, Flame and the Blackout Worm, have impacted businesses across a variety of sectors.

“Cyber security has become top of the agenda for many businesses over recent weeks, following the Wanna Decryptor (WannaCry) ransomware attack in May, which crippled the NHS and many other organisations across the globe.

“While it is difficult to predict the likelihood of a virus targeting a computer, companies should take preventative measures, like installing antivirus software, to ensure they are not at risk of losing data,” explained, Nick Boughton, sales manager at Boulting Technology.

“Legacy systems can present numerous problems as they do not contain as many safeguards as newer systems. At Boulting Technology we develop and install bespoke control systems which aid in both highlighting and resolving potential problems."


“Our infographic highlights the importance of protecting against hacking and viruses. Computer security researchers are constantly developing ways to enable antivirus solutions to more effectively detect, prevent and destroy new viruses, however it is up to businesses themselves to ensure they are protected.”

@BoultingTech #PAuto #Cybersecurity @StoneJunctionPR

Running out of space!

First came Stuxnet with the gradual realisation that this was a serious threat to industrial automation. And remember that was only in July 2010! As the ramifications of this started to set in more and more articles, blogs and opinions on it were published.

Professor Peter Frohlich of Beldon expressed it well, “Stuxnet has demonstrated what experts have long feared – the entry and penitration of embedded computer systems into all areas of industry means that we now all face a potential risk from computer malware.”

We commented a few times in our blogs as the realisation of what a threat this represented for the first time to industrial processes. There were so many papers, and opinions being published that we decided to inaugurate a page entitled "Stuxnet-process-cyber-security-threat-links!"

Soon however we learned of various sons and daughters of Stuxnet and so we renamed our page rather unwieldingly, if there is such a word, "Stuxnet, Duqu, Flame, Gauss and all that!" But our hackers are producing new dangers with various names that to continue adding the name of the latest threat as it occured would lead an impossibly long page name.

So what are we doing about it?

We've decided to rename the page yet again as "ICS & SCADA Security" and leave it at that.

We've just added a link to Tofino's latest item which is on the distructive Shamoon virus which has wreaked havoc in Saudi Arabia.