by Christa Miller, Forensic Focus

Malware aimed at industrial control systems (ICS) is nothing new. Nearly 10 years have passed since Stuxnet first targeted the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) associated with centrifuges in Iran’s nuclear program. Since then, Havex, BlackEnergy 2, and Crash Override / Industroyer have targeted various ICS.

Until very recently, targeted attacks on ICS have remained rare. In 2017 Dragos, a provider of industrial security software and services, reported that most malware infections on ICS were accidental.

The following year, the Kaspersky lab likewise reported that most ICS malware infections — including cryptomining, ransomware, remote-access trojans (RAT), spyware, and other threats — were random. Dragos has also reported, however, that targeted ICS intrusions aren’t as rare as first believed. 

Attacks on the electrical grid and other ICS have caused concern for safety in hospitals, transportation networks, and other…