I am filling up my tank just as a precaution when I go out today.

[Kahrnut]

I've got plenty of gas...

 

[Don231s]

It's official. The sky did not fall today. We still have gas. All of you old timers can go back to discussing politics.

 

[BIKER13]

what NO gas tomorrow?DJD

 

[10thmountain]

I am curious to see what happens today!

 

[jeep78]

Why in the hell are systems like this connected to the internet?

 

[FreezeDryGuy]

This could cause a major problem if it last more than a day or so. As soon as this gets out you will be seeing lines at the gas stations and empty pumps.

Oh, and for the conspiracy-minded out there, you give DC and the Dems too much credit.

Major infrastructure companies like pipelines, utilities and such have been under attack for years, and the recent SolarWinds exposure shows how many companies were actually affected.

In a lot of cases these are state actors (China/Russia) and if they figure out they are discovered and are about to be cleaned out of the system they simply take down everything they can.

It's 'punishment' for companies that actively thwart them, and a 'warning' to others that they may be better off simply letting a known 'infestation' be.

The cost of preventing these kinds of attacks is high, and fixing the damage after the fact may require rebuilding your entire infrastructure from scratch, since any old systems or software could re-infect your new, clean systems.

What information or sources can you provide to back up this claim?

 

[hamburglar3]

I am curious to see what happens today!

I told everyone i care about yesterday - let the spectacle begin

 

[Gaffer1968]

Why in the hell are systems like this connected to the internet?

So the operators can crawl through porn sites at night...

 

[sold7]

Just about all systems connected to the internet Banking, Financials, Utilities, Factories etc all behind some type of fire wall

This happens all the time. Back in 2008 they hacked the utility grid and started flipping tag on the SCADA systems randomly hoping to cause grid failure. I got called into a meeting because of all the Data center SCADA systems I had been involved with to discuss what Systems may be targets.
3 years ago they shut down some of the oil fields and refineries due to some security holes in some SCADA software system.

All these networks and systems are almost always under some type of attack for money info or mischief.

Much of this is because the internet is so much cheaper than private dark fiber between control systems.
My company handles 92 % of the internet traffic in the world and over 200 data centers on over 25 countries this kind of events are likely here to stay.

 

[spencer60]

It said temporary shutdown. If their systems are like ours they can be operated manually. Our PLC 's are not hooked up to the internet for this reason.

Probably, but that's a heck of a lot of manpower and you certainly will be running at a reduced capacity.

Besides, what make you think their PLCs aren't infected? SolarWinds showed that 'trusted' software can be spoofed and while PLCs don't get upgraded on a regular basis like Windows PCs, they do require updates. Because the updates are a major PITA, lots of them have old code, with old and well documented security flaws, which leaves them just that much more vulnerable to attack.

What information or sources can you provide to back up this claim?

Personal experience over 25 years in the utility industry, and what Homeland Security told us when the SolarWinds exploit broke.