[Offers] Colonial pipeline hacked

Lyndhurst 14 · May 11, 2021

//https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57063636

The shortage of gas caused by this is now causing problems in many US States. As more and more things are connected by "The industrial internet of things", everything from pacemakers to critical infrastructure, it makes you wonder what will be hacked next. It almost seems that the hackers are toying with us, this time demonstrating that they can cause massive inconvenience but could presumably cause something far more serious in the future if they wanted. I guess the big one would be to get into some of the major financial institutions and create mayhem unless their ransom demand are met. How secure are these institutions, makes you wonder.

zefarelly · May 11, 2021

poor sods are having to pay up to 60p a litre now.

once they've turned it off and on again it should drop back down.

BNthree · May 11, 2021

If you've got a spare 10 minutes this is a great read: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/26/the-incredible-rise-of-north-koreas-hacking-army (about North Korea hacking banks and bitcoin exchanges to transfer money out).

Pretty much anything can get hacked if enough people are persistent enough to keep trying and don't have to worry about getting caught.

Bry Nylon · May 11, 2021

Puts me in mind of this...

Lyndhurst 14 · May 11, 2021

The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver could almost convince you to go off the grid. The villain manages to hack into escalators, microwaves, cars etc and turn them into killing machines.

beorhthelm · May 11, 2021

this threat has been thought and theorised about for as long as ive been in IT. it really shouldnt be a problem if you simply separate operational systems from any systems with access to the internet. there's few use case where infrastucture need to be accessed remotely other than private network, in those few cases sensible DMZ architectures and firewalling can lockdown the operational systems. somewhere along the line someone insists some online capability, and opens a massive hole to be able to monitor a valve over a phone app or other nonsense.

meanwhile legislation is more concerned with whether i should consent to a browser cookie or not.

zefarelly · May 11, 2021

beorhthelm said:
this threat has been thought and theorised about for as long as ive been in IT. it really shouldnt be a problem if you simply separate operational systems from any systems with access to the internet. there's few use case where infrastucture need to be accessed remotely other than private network, in those few cases sensible DMZ architectures and firewalling can lockdown the operational systems. somewhere along the line someone insists some online capability, and opens a massive hole to be able to monitor a valve over a phone app or other nonsense.

meanwhile legislation is more concerned with whether i should consent to a browser cookie or not.

Funny isn't it, I'm a mechanical man, computers are nothing more than a tool. . . . I ran on old 486 PC in my workshop for a flow bench and engine analyser software, and a few basic things. kept it well clear of the tinterweb and it served me superbly for over 10 years ( I bought it for £30 from the local PC repair guy in 2008, it was old then)

when it finally died I used by old lap top, unfortunately that has in built wi-fi and
updated to windows 10. ****ed it, SOOO SLOW.

operational software as stand alone is ultra reliable, the trains ran with electromaechanical control for 100 years . . . . . never had signal failures until computers came along, traffic lights are another blight.

Deleted member 22389 · May 11, 2021

zefarelly said:
Funny isn't it, I'm a mechanical man, computers are nothing more than a tool. . . . I ran on old 486 PC in my workshop for a flow bench and engine analyser software, and a few basic things. kept it well clear of the tinterweb and it served me superbly for over 10 years ( I bought it for £30 from the local PC repair guy in 2008, it was old then)

when it finally died I used by old lap top, unfortunately that has in built wi-fi and
updated to windows 10. ****ed it, SOOO SLOW.

operational software as stand alone is ultra reliable, the trains ran with electromaechanical control for 100 years . . . . . never had signal failures until computers came along, traffic lights are another blight.

If you got a 486 for £30 that was a bargain. 386's, 486's are now collectors items.

zefarelly · May 11, 2021

bashlsdir said:
If you got a 486 for £30 that was a bargain. 386's, 486's are now collectors items.

sadly 10 years of iron dust in the workshop killed it, salvaged all data and binned it!

had to get an RS232 adaptor for the flow bench, software and kit made in the mid 90's!

Deleted member 22389 · May 11, 2021

zefarelly said:
sadly 10 years of iron dust in the workshop killed it, salvaged all data and binned it!

had to get an RS232 adaptor for the flow bench, software and kit made in the mid 90's!

These older machines were built to last. There's a whole scene now for 486 DOS gaming.

carlzeiss · May 11, 2021

bashlsdir said:
These older machines were built to last. There's a whole scene now for 486 DOS gaming.

Getting games running in DOS was very satisfying . No joy in modern Windows at all for me

Shropshire Seagull · May 11, 2021

zefarelly said:
..... the trains ran with electromaechanical control for 100 years . . . . . never had signal failures until computers came along, traffic lights are another blight.

We did get signal failures pre computerisation when the wire cables to operate the semaphore signals snapped or came off their runners / pulleys.

Gosh, just imagine if we ditched computers and reverted back to the old "token" approach to rail track signalling and safety.
We could easily cut down about 80% of the rail traffic.
And create hundreds of jobs for linesmen and signalmen sitting in the old signal boxes pulling big levers when the bell rings.

dadams2k11 · May 11, 2021

If its got an IP address, it can be hacked. The IOT is a gateway on the network which allows you to pivit on to a machine to escalate privileges, leading to owning the domain.

Once you own the domain, you got full control.

Badger · May 11, 2021

bashlsdir said:
These older machines were built to last. There's a whole scene now for 486 DOS gaming.

I've been going down a rabbit hole of retro computer YouTube channels in recent months. I'm really tempted to put a 90s PC together and re-live the good old days.

zefarelly · May 12, 2021

Badger said:
I've been going down a rabbit hole of retro computer YouTube channels in recent months. I'm really tempted to put a 90s PC together and re-live the good old days.

we found that leader board golf game the other week . . .

CHK . . .looks like he hit the tree Jim

hit escape double quick and straight back into ACAD :blush:

Publius Ovidius · May 12, 2021

zefarelly said:
we found that leader board golf game the other week . . .

CHK . . .looks like he hit the tree Jim

hit escape double quick and straight back into ACAD

I played that for hours...along with Jimmy whites snooker on Atari!

Deleted member 22389 · May 12, 2021

Badger said:
I've been going down a rabbit hole of retro computer YouTube channels in recent months. I'm really tempted to put a 90s PC together and re-live the good old days.

I would love to do the same, unfortunately budget at this time won't allow, but If you can afford it, do it.
We have dosbox for Windows, Linux but it's really not the same as the real PC.

zefarelly · May 12, 2021

table top micro machines racing was a great lunchtime game as well, circa 1996?

Deleted member 22389 · May 12, 2021

zefarelly said:
table top micro machines racing was a great lunchtime game as well, circa 1996?

There is something special about retro gaming. I don't know if you or anyone else remembers the computer shop in Brighton called Gamer. Remember going there every Saturday with friends to buy games for the Spectrum 48k and Commodore 64. But I also remember everyone crowding round the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST. Amazing computers for the time.

Postman Pat · May 12, 2021

US consumer product safety have put this tweet out:

[Tweet]1392482092823502849[/tweet]

After this happened in 2019 during a previous fuel shortage

Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

[Offers] Colonial pipeline hacked

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