Siemens Circuit Breaker

Researchers warn of SCADA equipment discoverable via Google

LAS VEGAS--Not only are SCADA systems used to run power plants and other critical infrastructure lacking many security precautions to keep hackers out, operators sometimes practically advertise their wares on Google search, according to a demo today during a Black Hat conference workshop.

Acknowledging that he wouldn't click on any link results to avoid breaking the law by accessing a network without authorization, researcher Tom Parker typed in some search terms associated with a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), an embedded computer used for automating functions of electromechanical processes. Among the results was one referencing a "RTU pump status" for a Remote Terminal Unit, like those used in water treatment plants and pipelines, that appeared to be connected to the Internet. The result also included a password--"1234."

That's like putting up a billboard saying SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system here and, oh by the way, here are the keys to the front door.

"You can do a Google search with your Web browser and start operating [circuit] breakers, potentially," Parker, chief technology officer at security consultancy FusionX , told CNET in a break during the workshop on "Building, Attacking And Defending SCADA Systems in the Age of Stuxnet."

Most SCADA protocols do not use encryption or authentication, and they don't have access control built into them or the device itself, said Jonathan Pollet, fellow presenter and founder of Red Tiger Security . This means that when a PLC has a Web server and is connected to the Internet, anyone who can discover the Internet Protocol address can send commands to the device and the commands will be performed, he said.

"You can make it do anything you want it to do," Pollet said. "If that RTU or PLC has large motors connected to it, pumping out water or chemicals, the equipment could be turned off. If it was a substation and the power recloser switches were closed, we could break it open and create an (electricity) outage for an entire area or city...The bottom line is you could cause physical damage to whatever is connected to that PLC."

To know exactly what to search for on the Internet, the researchers bought a PLC with an embedded Web server that had an identifying string of characters associated with the hardware and then typed that information into Google, according to Pollet.

Pollet discovered on the Internet an ABB Transformer running an electricity substation in the United Kingdom earlier this year with no password required and notified the utility company. "You could see [circuit] breaker statuses, see the last time it was worked on, the status of the transformer," he said, doing a quick Google search for the device. "It's still on the Internet but now they prompt for a password," he said, finding the link.

2.2 million Siemens and Murray circuit breakers recalled ...

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