The U.S Department of Homeland Security (USDHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) jointly issued a public warning late on Oct. 20 that, as part of the increasing threat of cyber attacks, sophisticated hackers are targeting the power industry and other industrial firms in an attempt to disrupt public infrastructure.
These agencies warned that the aviation, energy, nuclear, water and other critical manufacturing industries have been targets, along with a variety of governmental agencies. In some cases, not only had the attacks been detected since last May, but in some instances, the hackers had actually succeeded in compromising some networks.
The USDHS and the FBI declined to provide information as to the specific nature of the compromises or the targeted victims.
The purpose of the warning was to not only alert businesses and the public at large, but to provide recommendations as to prevention and mitigation of malicious cyber activity. The government agencies stressed the need for critical infrastructure providers to remain vigilant against threats.
In response to the announcement, several leading cyber-security providers indicated that much of the content of the public announcement was already known, and that steps were being taken by security software and hardware companies to attempt to stay ahead of developing threats.