Health care and other organizations that operate Unitronics Programmable Logic Controllers should protect the devices from potential compromise through default passwords, U.S. and Israeli agencies announced Dec. 2. An Iran-affiliated cyber group recently accessed several U.S. water and wastewater treatment facilities through these Israeli-made PLCs, which were publicly exposed to the internet with default passwords. The agencies advise organizations that operate these PLCs to disconnect them from the public-facing internet and replace all default passwords with strong passwords, among other actions. 

John Riggi, AHA’s national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, said, “Although this geopolitically driven cyber threat appears to mainly target the water and wastewater systems sector, the alert notes that the PLCs may also be used in the health care sector. Therefore, it is advised that hospitals and health systems scan their networks for these potentially vulnerable PLCs, especially their facilities and building automation systems, and apply the recommended threat mitigation procedures.”

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at jriggi@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity
 

Related News Articles

Headline
The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and international agencies July 29 released a joint advisory on recent tactics by the Scattered…
Headline
Microsoft July 22 released an update on the ongoing cyberattacks to SharePoint servers used within organizations, attributing the incidents to China-based…
Headline
The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, and Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center…
Headline
Microsoft July 19 issued an alert about active attacks from vulnerabilities targeting SharePoint servers used within organizations. The incidents have not…
Headline
In his latest AHA Cyber and Risk Intel blog, Scott Gee, AHA deputy national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, explains how hospitals can prepare for and…
AHA Cyber Intel
In today’s heightened threat environment, driven by domestic and geopolitical issues, it is more critical than ever for hospitals to prepare for and mitigate…