Over the past few months, I have written about the threat first identified by the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) called disruptionware. We have previously described what disruptionware is, how it works, and outlined some of the defenses that can be used to defend against a multitude of disruptionware attacks. Many may have thought the immediate notifications of the threat posed by this new concept of disruptionware had been adequately made public and sufficiently identified. Unfortunately, disruptionware continues to impact new sectors.

According to ICIT, disruptionware is an evolving category of malware designed to “suspend operations within the victim organization through the compromise of the availability, integrity and confidentiality of the data, systems, and networks belonging to the target.” Recently, ICIT identified a new threat from disruptionware that will likely have a seriously adverse effect on the American energy sector. ICIT goes so far as to refer to disruptionware in the context of an attack on the U.S. energy grid as a “weapon of mass destruction.”

Continue reading “Disruption IV: The New Threat Disruptionware Poses to the American Energy Sector”