OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2012. Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, named international cooperation and advanced technology as the key requirements to survive the age of cyber-warfare. In his keynote speech at the ITU Telecom World 2012 conference, Eugene Kaspersky highlighted the dangers of the cyber-arms race and showcased Kaspersky Lab’s approach to protecting vulnerable industrial systems.

“In the long run, cyber-warfare is where all parties lose: attackers, victims and even uninvolved observers. Unlike traditional weapons, tools used in cyber-warfare are very easy to clone and reprogram by adversaries. The most important move to survive in this environment is the development and deployment of a new, advanced security paradigm for the most critical infrastructure.”

Summary:

Traditional malware already has notable side effects on critical infrastructure

Causes of events like the 2003 blackout in U.S. and Canada were results of both a software failure and an inability to monitor the real state of energy systems

Furthermore, the ongoing escalation of the cyber-arms race increases this problem:

Stuxnet and Duqu were uncovered in 2010 and 2011

2012 unveiled Gauss and Flame, as well as the targeted miniFlame tool

Cyber-warfare is a universal threat with no respect to borders. Its impact on the most critical industrial systems can be disastrous

Proper protection of vulnerable industrial systems is the top priority

In his keynote address, Eugene Kaspersky described the essential measures to protect industrial control systems. A new, secure unit to obtain trusted workflow information is the first step towards an efficient protection against cyber-warfare. In response to such challenges, Kaspersky Lab is working on a Secure Operating System, which will serve as the trusted node for Industrial Control Systems.