Botnets pose serious risk to networked hardware

Added: (Thu Feb 01 2007)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Manufacturers and industrialised networks should beware of the threat of botnets, according to Dr.Lutz Jänicke, CTO of Innominate. This follows 'the father of the internet', Vint Cerf's announcement that the internet is at serious risk from botnets, with as many as one in four computers connected to a network potentially at risk from infection by Trojans. The warning was sent out to attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos and Cerf stressed that botnets are getting 'smaller, more stealthy and more discreet.' This could have a devastating effect on manufacturers across the globe whose production processes are networked.

"Botnets are a serious threat to any organisation that utilises production lines," said Dr.Lutz Jänicke, CTO of industrial security specialist, Innominate. "They are capable of extrapolating a user's information and identity, allowing them complete access to an organisation's resources. This could potentially cause a variety of problems to any organisation that manufactures a product; such as stopping production, altering the program, and changing operations - all without the knowledge of supervisors. An alteration in the product would impact sales and therefore affect profit. Product programs may be altered to the extent that products no longer comply with legislation. Botnets are also capable of slowing down production by reducing capacity and spamming to other computers both within the same network and to external computers. Organisations that fail to plan for the rising threat do so at their peril,” concluded Dr.Lutz Jänicke.
Traditionally, industrial networks are perceived to be less prone to attacks than office-based networks. However, the move towards industrial Ethernet networks means that their vulnerability to attacks arising from the internet has increased too. Innominate’s security solutions, such as its mGuard firewall, can help secure machinery against the threat of malware, whether malicious or accidental, allowing production to operate smoothly.

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About the article
The article appeared on 26 January, 2007. To view the article click on the link below:

http://software.silicon.com/malware/0,3800003100,39165468,00.htm?r=6
About Innominate Security Technologies AG

Innominate Security Technologies AG is a specialist for security appliances used in industrial communication environments (M2M). With its mGuard product line, the company, founded in 2001, offers firewall, VPN and virus protection functionality. mGuard appliances are sold in a range of types, from dongle to PCI card, blade server, DIN rail device or Ethernet switch.
Further information can be found at www.innominate.com.

Media contacts:
Patricia Roberts/ Elke Panzner
Rainier PR
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7494 6570
Email: Innominate@rainierpr.co.uk