Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Vital Service Providers Need a Plan to Work Through Internet Outages, CISA SaysCritical U.S. infrastructure like water, power and even banking systems will be successfully hacked by enemy cyber warriors in the event of a military confrontation with a peer adversary like Russia or China, officials from the nation's civilian cyber defense agency said.

Does No Internet Also Mean No Water or Lights?The latest initiative from the U.S. cyber defense agency aimed at operational technology operators is a little bit different. It's not advice about how to keep hackers out. It's not really about cybersecurity at all. CI Fortify is about what to do when cybersecurity fails.

Zero Trust Is 'Essential' - But Who Pays for It?New guidance from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on adapting zero trust security principles for operational technology is fine as far as it goes, but is pretty high-level and ignores or fudges a couple of key questions, say executives and experts.

Exclusion of OT From AI-Powered Vulnerability Discovery Poses Risks to National SecurityHyperscalers and IT behemoths are on the list, while OT companies are not. The list in question includes the companies that have special access to powerful new models from the two major U.S. frontier AI labs to identify vulnerabilities before hackers get access to similar technology.

New Rules Will Jolt Maritime Cybersecurity Market Amid Geopolitical AnxietyA Coast Guard rule imposing standards on operational technology systems in ports and larger U.S.-flagged commercial vessels is poised to supercharge the maritime cybersecurity market - a boon granted by concern that shipping is a weak target for a world roiled by mounting geopolitical tensions.

'We've Yet to Find Any Mission That Can Work Without Power or Water'The Air Force is the first, and so far only, American military service to have an office dedicated to OT cybersecurity, blazing a path other services should follow, according to officials and industry observers. These are systems without which the United States can't go to war.

Censys researchers warned that thousands of devices are exposed to the Iranian government’s campaign targeting energy, water, and U.S. government services and facilities. The post Iranian attacks on US critical infrastructure puts 3,900 devices in crosshairs appeared first on CyberScoop.

Iran-affiliated cyber actors are targeting internet-facing operational technology (OT) devices across critical infrastructures in the U.S., including programmable logic controllers (PLCs), cybersecurity and intelligence agencies warned Tuesday

CISA: Iran-Linked Groups Actively Exploiting OT Exposure Risks, PLC ProgrammersFederal agencies are warning that Iranian-linked actors have begun actively exploiting internet-facing PLCs and misconfigured OT systems across U.S. critical infrastructure, enabling network access, lateral movement and potential disruption amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Iranian government hackers are launching disruptive cyberattacks on American energy and water infrastructure, U.S. government agencies “urgently” warned Tuesday. The hackers are taking aim at devices and systems that control industrial processes, and have harmed victims in the last month following the onset of U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran, according to the joint alert from the […] The post Iranian hackers launching disruptive attacks at U.S. energy, water targets, feds warn appeared first on CyberScoop.

CS4CA USA Summit Speaker Daryl Haegley on Zero Trust and OT VisibilityCritical infrastructure operators face constant cyber probing from state adversaries targeting energy, water and industrial systems. A U.S. Air Force cyber resiliency leader explains why zero trust, IT-OT separation and stronger anomaly detection are essential to defend mission-critical operations.

OT Experts Weigh In on SP-800 82 RevisionsNow is the moment for U.S. federal guidance on securing OT to plunge deeper into the practicalities of securing systems, an extension into actionable advise that reflects a maturing branch of cybersecurity, several OT security specialists told the national Institute of Standards and Technology.

Joint US, UK and Five Eyes Guidance Flags OT Exposure as National RiskU.S. and allied cyber agencies issued new guidance warning that insecure operational technology connectivity - driven by remote access, third-party vendors and IT integration - remains a major threat vector, enabling cyber intrusions to escalate into physical disruptions.

International Coalition Highlights Security Risks in OT’s Rush to AIHurriedly integrating AI into industrial systems isn't the wisest idea, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and its domestic and international partners warned earlier this month. "We don't want [operators] treating AI like a magical black box," explained a CISA official.

New Rules Tell Power Grid Operators to Log All OT Network TrafficA new reliability standard for U.S. and Canadian electric grid tells major power companies to monitor and log traffic on their operational technology and industrial control systems networks. The rules will be a heavy lift for the electricity sector.

AI in OT May Trigger Cascading Infrastructure FailuresThe U.S. cyber defense agency warned that machine learning and large language model deployments can introduce new attack surfaces across critical infrastructure sectors in a document setting out principles for safely integrating AI into operational technology.

Airport Baggage Carousels Are Weapons, in the Right HandsConsider the airport baggage carousel. It's big, clunky and tedious to wait by. But look at it like a war planner does, and it's suddenly very different: An almost certainly poorly secured technology system that foreign adversaries could exploit to disrupt military mobilization across the United States.

Also: Shutdown's Ripple Effects on Healthcare, Mounting Threats to Aging OT SystemsIn this week's update, four ISMG editors discussed the fallout from the U.S. federal shutdown and the impact on state and regional cyber offices, the knock-on effects for healthcare, and the growing cyberthreats facing aging operational technology environments.

ManuSec Chicago Speaker Johnny Xmas on Value of Pentesting in OT EnvironmentsManuSec Summit speaker Johnny Xmas, global head of offensive security for a leading U.S. manufacturer, discusses pentesting in operational technology environments, overcoming the hurdles to offensive security programs and the evolving role of OT security.

Recent advisories from U.S. federal authorities on vulnerabilities in certain operational technology devices underscore the potential security risks that many healthcare providers frequently underestimate, said Sila Özeren, a security research engineer at Picus Security.