Attacks on critical national infrastructure are growing in number and sophistication. So how big is the UK’s risk?
However, at the same time, Jason Hart, CTO of data protection at Gemalto points out that power stations and other industrial SCADA systems connected to the internet have a manual override switch. He says, therefore, that they are more at risk of another form of attack, on the integrity of the system.He explains: “A breach is about confidentiality, integrity and availability. If the availability of the system is targeted, it can manually override this so the underlying critical system will have the ability to shut down if needed.”
Therefore, he says: “What we need to worry about is the integrity of the data: What if attackers get in and alter the data that the SCADA system uses to make decisions?”
Hart suggests attackers could gain access through a SQL injection, or weak passwords. In the NHS, he points out, it would be “a massive problem” if patient data is altered or changed.
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