{"id":13542,"date":"2022-04-09T16:31:47","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T14:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=13542"},"modified":"2022-04-09T16:31:47","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T14:31:47","slug":"are-cybercriminals-waiting-for-an-opportune-time-to-attack-u-s-trucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2022\/04\/09\/are-cybercriminals-waiting-for-an-opportune-time-to-attack-u-s-trucks\/","title":{"rendered":"Are cybercriminals waiting for an opportune time to attack U.S. trucks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the pandemic and other problems showed vulnerabilities, hackers sponsored by nefarious states could attempt to cause more supply chain problems, cybersecurity expert warns fleets.<\/p>\n

ORLANDO, Florida\u2014There\u2019s never been a known successful cyberattack on a U.S. commercial vehicle, but that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t vulnerable to cybercriminals. It\u2019s quite possible that some U.S. enemies already have plans to hack trucks and other vehicles but are just waiting for the right time, according to a cybersecurity expert who spoke this week to trucking industry stakeholders.<\/p>\n

A recent cyberattack on Expeditors International<\/a> shut down the company’s computer systems and slowed its global operations days before Russia invaded Ukraine last month\u2014the type of logistics problem that enemy nation-states can cause, John Sheehy, SVP of research and strategy for IOActive<\/a>, said here during a cybersecurity session at American Trucking Associations\u2019<\/a> Technology & Maintenance Council<\/a> 2022 annual meeting.<\/p>\n

While it didn\u2019t affect vehicles,\u00a0 Sheehy\u00a0called the timing of the Expeditors ransomware attack interesting.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuspiciously, it was right in the timeframe when the war in Ukraine was heating up. And what you’ll see, unfortunately, is sometimes these types of attacks\u2014ransomware or distributed denial of service attacks\u2014are used as a distraction, while something more significant is occurring,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo, depending on who your clients or customers within your business are, you may be targeted because of the cargo you’re carrying.\u201d<\/p>\n

See also:\u00a0<\/b>Ukraine update: Understanding risks to U.S. trucking, transportation<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

A cyberattack on a single truck could stop the freight on it and the driver hauling it, Sheehy said during an interview after the TMC session at the Orange County Convention Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have three trucks in your fleet, that might be a big impact for you and your operations,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you have 30,000, it\u2019s not going to have a very big impact\u2014other than pointing out that you\u2019ve got an issue to deal with. The great concern is when a large number are impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n

That theoretical mass attack could be levied against trucks from one OEM or commercial vehicles from a telematics provider or all the trucks in a single fleet, Sheehy said. And he gave examples.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly if they are delivering some type of critical goods that are high value, high risk,\u201d he explained. \u201cIf there’s something that people’s lives depend on and getting somewhere at a certain time\u2014those are things that have very significant consequences. Every modern military understands how critical logistics is to operations. It is something they will exploit when they feel it\u2019s appropriate to do so. Unfortunately, that capability does exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preparing for an attack<\/h3>\n

At the University of Detroit Mercy College of Engineering & Science, faculty are working with the Michigan National Guard and U.S. Department of Defense to create joint cybersecurity workshops and online training courses on the subject.<\/p>\n

This training will replicate what engineers learned in the CyberTruck Challenge<\/a>, said Mark Zachos, DG Technologies<\/a> president, who led the TMC session on March 7. The CyberTruck Challenge was created five years ago to show college students the cyber issues that heavy-vehicle engineers might confront in a more connected, high-tech transportation world.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou all understand that terrible conflict in Ukraine,\u201d Zachos told the TMC audience. \u201cLogistically, some people are aware of this; they\u2019re having lots of problems. We need to make sure that our country is on the forefront of defense. And this is part of our defensive shield here. We\u2019re training from college students to the actual maintainers about cybersecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n

How cybercriminals could disrupt trucking<\/h3>\n

The food and essential-products shortages that many Americans faced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was an example of how fragile the U.S. supply chain is and could be something a foreign actor could try to replicate using fleet cyberattacks, Sheehy told FleetOwner<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s a situation that if the right trucks were attacked, that [2020 problem] could repeat,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it goes beyond just the trucks because it’s also the operational technology and the warehousing and distribution units\u2014your forklifts, your pickers, your other systems don\u2019t work. It could be as simple as the Wi-Fi in the warehouse\u2014then your operations have stopped. That\u2019s why we often talk about operational resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

See also:\u00a0<\/b>COVID-19 left companies that didn\u2019t upgrade cybersecurity more vulnerable<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

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CyberTruck Challenge<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
The fourth CyberTruck Challenge was held in August 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

An operations director for a major carrier, who asked not to be identified, said fleets are one click away from an attack. And while an attack on one or many trucks still remains a potential threat, ransomware is hurting fleets and logistics companies such as Expeditors International.<\/p>\n

Sheehy\u2019s company, IOActive, recently ran a test for a major company to see how much it would cost to breach its cyber walls. Jaimie Riden, an IOActive security consultant, said the exercise showed the weaknesses within most companies’ outward-facing technology services.<\/p>\n

In a blog post, \u201cHow we hacked your billion-dollar company for 42 bucks,\u201d<\/a> he wrote the most significant expenditure was on coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of traffic goes in and out of a normal company\u2019s internet perimeter: email comes in and goes out; web traffic from customers, or potential customers comes in, web traffic for internal users goes out; and lots of necessary services create traffic, such as remote desktop, web authentication (especially password resets), helpdesk services, file exchange, and more,\u201d he wrote in January. \u201cThe question is, can we make use of combinations of seemingly minor problems to access internal systems? The answer is mostly yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Multiple nation-states capable of attacking trucks\u2019<\/h3>\n

If there are no real-world examples of successful cyberattacks on commercial vehicles, is all this talk just abstract?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very real concern,\u201d Sheehy said. \u201cWe have seen threat-actors demonstrate an inherent interest in getting the information they need to attack these vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those actors could just be waiting for the right time. The last time Russia invaded Ukraine\u2014when it seized control of Crimea in 2014\u2014IOActive warned that U.S. satellite communication terminals (SatComs), those used by airplanes, ships, and military units, were vulnerable to cyberattacks<\/a>. Sheehy said that Russia used that research to devise an operation<\/a> to attack the small aperture satellites.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Russia launched its latest war on Ukraine, the U.S. satellite communications firm Viasat Inc. said it suspected it was the victim of a cyberattack that knocked out residential broadband services<\/a> in Ukraine and other European countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something where someone on the offensive side of cybersecurity\u2014somebody who\u2019s going to go out to produce some type of effect for their sponsor\u2014said, \u2018OK, this is interesting. We can do this,\u2019\u201d Sheehy explained. \u201cThey went and developed the capability and put it on a shelf until they needed it. The time was right during the invasion of Ukraine. They deployed it because it had strategic value to them. So I would assess that there are multiple nation-states today with the capability on the shelf to attack vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Increasing severity of cyberattacks<\/h3>\n

Recent incidents, such as the Colonial Pipeline attack<\/a> and the more recent\u00a0satellite\u00a0attack, show cyberattacks are getting more impactful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a situation where we had invested the time and resources to bring attention to the issue, and some organizations responded, some organizations listened very carefully,\u201d Sheehy said. \u201cOther organizations did not make the right decisions at the top levels about investing resources in managing those risks. That\u2019s why the attack did happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter the size of the fleet, knowing what assets might be attractive to cybercriminals is important, he added. \u201cThat is kind of the basics. From that, you look at what are the typical attack techniques. What do I have? What would a bad guy most likely go after? That\u2019s where you start to invest in protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could the trucking industry, responsible for most U.S. freight movement and the backbone of supply chains, be next?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to say because these types of decision-makers will only do so when it\u2019s in their interest,\u201d Sheehy explained. \u201cIf you asked me a month ago, I would have said we\u2019re not going to see that satellite attack for a while. I also didn\u2019t expect the Russian invasion of Ukraine because that was not consistent with past behavior.”<\/p>\n

See also:<\/b>\u00a0Cybercrime is the next pandemic<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cSo something did change in their decision calculus that produced the effect,\u201d Sheehy added. \u201cThat\u2019s why that weapon was used.\u201d<\/p>\n

After U.S. supply chain weaknesses were exposed this decade, Sheehy said cybercriminals sponsored by shady nation-states could have their eyes on specific organizations and businesses such as fleets. \u201cYou might be attacked because of who your client is\u2014or who their client is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why sharing information with clients is important if your firm is attacked\u2014because a cyberattack on one company could be a route hackers access another, according to Sheehy. That\u2019s why sharing information about company security breaches can contribute to the common good.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmpowering them with the information they need to make decisions to protect themselves and their clients is very helpful,\u201d\u00a0Sheehy said.<\/p>\n

How do fleets prepare for cyberattacks?<\/h3>\n

Sheehy said transportation companies must understand what risks and threats their businesses face. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be different if you\u2019re a smaller fleet or owner-operator versus somebody who\u2019s 30-, 50-, 60,000 vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter the size of the fleet, knowing what assets might be attractive to cybercriminals is important, he added. \u201cThat is kind of the basics. From that, you look at what are the typical attack techniques. What do I have? What would a bad guy most likely go after? That\u2019s where you start to invest in protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared in FleetOwner.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Josh Fisher<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.fleetmaintenance.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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After the pandemic and other problems showed vulnerabilities, hackers sponsored by nefarious states could attempt to cause more supply chain problems, cybersecurity expert warns fleets. ORLANDO, Florida\u2014There\u2019s never been a known successful cyberattack on a U.S. commercial vehicle, but that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t vulnerable to cybercriminals. It\u2019s quite possible that some U.S. enemies already…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[361],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13544,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13542\/revisions\/13544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}