How to fix insecure operational technologies that threaten the global economy

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Today, with the rampant spread of cybercrime, a tremendous amount of work is being done to protect our computer networks, to secure our bits and bytes. At the same time, however, not enough work is being done to secure our atoms, namely the material physical infrastructure that runs the global economy.

Nations are now replete with operational technology (OT) platforms that have essentially computerized their entire physical infrastructure, whether buildings and bridges, trains and automobiles, or industrial and assembly line equipment that keep economies running. But the idea that a hospital bed can be hacked - or a plane or a bridge - is still a very new concept. We need to start taking these threats very seriously, because they can cause catastrophic damage.

Imagine, for example, an attack on a major power plant that leaves the northeastern United States without heat during a particularly brutal cold snap. Consider the enormous hardship - and even death - this type of attack would cause as homes go dark, businesses are cut off from their customers, hospitals struggle to operate, and airports are closed.

The Stuxnet virus, which emerged over a decade ago, was the first indication that physical infrastructure could be a prime target for cyber threats. Stuxnet was a malicious worm that infected software at at least 14 industrial sites in Iran, including a uranium enrichment plant.

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The Stuxnet virus has since mutated and spread to other industrial and power generation facilities around the world. The reality is that critical infrastructures all over the world are now threatened by Stuxnet-type attacks. Indeed, security vulnerabilities lurk in critical systems used in the world's most important industries, including power, water, transportation, and manufacturing.

The problem is that tech manufacturers have never designed their products with security in mind. As a result, trillions of dollars in OT assets today are highly vulnerable. The vast majority of these products are built on microcontrollers communicating over unsecured Controller Area Network (CAN) buses. The CAN protocol is used in everything from passenger vehicles and agricultural equipment to medical instruments and building automation. Yet it contains no direct support for secure communications. It also lacks essential authentication and authorization. For example, a CAN frame does not include any sender or receiver address information.

As a result, CAN bus networks are increasingly vulnerable to malicious attacks, especially as the cyberattack landscape expands. This means we need new approaches and solutions to better secure CAN buses and protect critical infrastructure.

Before we talk about what this security should look like, let's take a look at what can happen if a CAN bus network is compromised. A CAN bus essentially serves as a shared communication channel for multiple microprocessors. In an automobile, for example, the CAN bus allows the engine system, combustion system, brake system, and lighting system to communicate seamlessly with each other through the shared channel.

But since the CAN bus is inherently insecure, hackers can interfere with this communication and start sending random messages...