The Members Forum

The appearance of the Stuxnet worm in June should serve as a wake-up call to governments and businesses, especially those relying on Internet-based industrial control systems, a group of cybersecurity experts told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday.

The sophisticated Stuxnet is a "game changer" for companies and governments looking to protect their networks, said Sean McGurk, acting director of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Stuxnet, likely developed by a well-financed team, modifies files of the software running industrial control systems and can also steal the data contained there without the owner knowing it, he told the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"We have not seen this coordinated effort of information technology vulnerabilities and industrial control exploitation completely wrapped up in one unique package," McGurk said.

Stuxnet illustrates the need for governments and businesses to adopt new approaches to cyberthreats, added Michael Assante, president and CEO of the National Board of Information Security Examiners. "Stuxnet is, at the very least, an important wake-up call for digitally enhanced and reliant countries, and at its worst, a blueprint for future attackers," he said.

Computerworld has the details HERE!