Belarus Rail Cyber Attack | What does it mean for Critical Infrastructure Around the World?

UKRAINIAN CONFLICT PUTS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES AT RISK
Belarussian “cyber activists” disrupted passenger rail traffic in the country by encrypting ticketing and other IT systems. The activists demanded that the government stop hosting Russian troops, and demanded the release of 50 political prisoners before the attackers would relinquish control of the encrypted servers. The group threatened to extend their control into safety-critical rail switching systems if their demands were not met. In such an eventuality, the group said that their objective would be to shut down trains, especially those carrying Russian troops, not to threaten human lives.

What does this mean for the rest of the world?
The attack on the Belarus rail system is yet another example of an attack that cripples IT systems, and so brings about OT consequences, like the Colonial Pipeline attack, and the JBS meatpacking attack. The time has come to make our OT/ICS networks essentially impenetrable to online hacktivist, ransomware and nation-state attacks alike. We need to do this before we are targeted and before we suffer consequences as part of this Russia/Ukraine crisis, or as part of any of the other geopolitical crises that await in the months ahead.

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