DoD Vulnerable to ICS Attacks

By Victor R. Garza, NPS Graduate School of Information and Operational Sciences

Colonial Pipeline, operator of the U.S.' largest fuel pipeline, was recently hit with a major ransomware attack. Colonial’s CEO, Joseph Blount, confirmed he authorized a $4.4 million payout to the perpetrators.

Still unclear is whether the attack targeted the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) that operate critical fuel controls, or only the IT infrastructure. Because of the uncertainty, Blount shut down everything.

Had this attack been focused on the DoD, with over 250,000 buildings and an estimated three million ICS systems, a targeted attack could take out critical energy management, building automation, security systems, and increasingly, military weapons systems.

A great number of military weapons systems rely on ICS to manage and monitor essential functions. A March 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on weapons systems security found in three of five contracts “...examples of program contracts omitting cybersecurity requirements, acceptance criteria, or verification processes.” Additionally, DoD officials state that “program offices may not know which industrial control systems are embedded in their weapons, or what the security implications of using them are.”

Although the U.S. stands at the forefront of cybersecurity, the GAO reports highlight how securing DoD systems lags behind the private sector, and as with Colonial, it is not a place of strength.

Americans must be assured that national defense, and every system that supports it, are not vulnerable to threats from cyber or other domains. The Naval Postgraduate School and its nascent Center on Combating Hybrid Threats (CCHT) will assist by focusing on cyber defense and energy security.

 

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Email Victor R. Garza at vrgarza@nps.edu

Visit the CCHT website at nps.edu/ccht