Lessons Learned from DarkSide and the Solar Winds Hack

When the Eastern European hacker group DarkSide shut down the Colonial Pipeline in May of 2021, the ramifications were felt across numerous landscapes.In addition to impacting air travel and triggering panic over gasoline availability, the six-day interruption of fuel to much of the Eastern United States led to one of the highest profile ransomware payments in recent history.Although law enforcement was able to track down and recover more than half of the $4.4 million in Bitcoin that Colonial paid the ransomware attackers, two critical points had been made: the U.S. industrial sector was vulnerable, and they were willing to pay to restore operations.In support of the increasing concerns facing the industrial sector’s cybersecurity needs, IBM recently reported that manufacturing overtook financial institutions and insurance providers in becoming the most targeted industry by cyber criminals in 2021.Joining us to discuss this ongoing threat is Eric Ervin, Global Director for Utilities and Manufacturing at 1898 & Company, a leading provider of data management and business consulting services. To catch up on past episodes, you can go to Manufacturing.net, IEN.com or MBTmag.com. You can also check Security Breach out wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Amazon and Overcast. And if you have a cybersecurity story or topic that you’d like to have us explore on Security Breach, you can reach me at jeff@ien.com.To download our latest report on industrial cybersecurity, The Industrial Sector’s New Battlefield, click here.