Trevor Dearing, Director of Critical Infrastructure at Illumio commented: “The recent attack on an Italian water supplier, damaging water distribution and sewage purification for half a million people, exemplifies the primary aim of threat groups in causing as much disruption as possible. Attacks on water supplies are an effective target for threat actors carrying out these aims."
He adds, "In the past, criminals have been known to adjust the chemical contents of water, such as in Oldsmar, Florida, leading serious threats to human life. This disruption is seen yet again here with the supply and distribution of water being interrupted, showing the continued need for critical infrastructure to adopt more effective security measures."
Zero Trust network
"With the addition of customer data, contracts, minutes from board meetings, reports, pipe distribution information and expansion documents also being stolen, there is a clear need for organisations to adopt effective network segmentation and an ‘assume breach’ mentality in order to secure critical services delivering such valuable commodities like water. With an effective Zero Trust network, the lateral movement of ransomware can be halted, and the ripples of damage reduced.”