Ransomware for water treatment plant created

The team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology has revealed the new form of ransomware malware that attacks specifically the industrial systems. At the RSA Conference in San Francisco, they presented the malware that penetrates the simulated water treatment plant, to emphasise that perpetrators including criminals can also disrupt industrial facilities. The malware that attacks some of the common programmable logic controllers (PLCs) often found in industrial facilities could enable a perpetrators to close or lock down infected industrial systems, thereby holding a utility hostage, and require a ransom. More importantly, the malware could enable attacks on critical infrastructure that could put down power-plants or dump life-threatening amounts of chlorine in water supplies which could potentially poison entire cities. The news comes weeks after the criminals managed to infect the computer system of a hotel in Austria with ransomware, lock the guests in the rooms and request a €1,500 for ransom.