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A Dragonfly in the Ointment: Cyber Attacks on the Energy Sector May Signal Dark Days Ahead

By Michael Bahar, Trevor Satnick and Mark Thibodeaux
October 01, 2017

On Sept. 6, 2017, cybersecurity company Symantec reported an increased effort among cyber attackers to target the energy sector, both in Europe and the United States. The group believed to be behind the most recent intrusions into energy sector systems is known as Dragonfly.

These recent attacks may not yet have resulted in damages or disruption, but the group appears to be positioning itself to learn how the targeted energy facilities operate while attempting to gain access to operational control systems, if they have not done so already. With mounting evidence of preparatory attacks against the energy sector, owners and operators of critical infrastructure cannot solely rely on governments to protect them — even though there is much that governments can and must do. Organizations within the energy sector must be more vigilant than ever if hacking groups like Dragonfly are to be kept out of both IT and industrial control systems.

Dragonfly and Its Tactics

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