Claroty finds critical vulnerabilities in cloud-based ICS platforms

Claroty has launched Team82, its new research arm that provides vulnerability and threat research to Claroty customers and defenders of industrial networks worldwide. Team82 has also released a new report on critical vulnerabilities found in cloud-based management platforms for industrial control systems (ICS), highlighting the rise of ICS in the cloud and the growing need to secure cloud implementations in industrial environments.

Team82, formerly known as The Claroty Research Team, has achieved a total of 146 vulnerability discoveries and disclosures to date, and was the first to develop and release signatures for the notorious Ripple20 and Wibu-Systems CodeMeter vulnerabilities and the threat actors that target them. The company says the team works closely with leading industrial automation vendors to evaluate the security of their products.

In its latest report, Top-Down and Bottom-Up: Exploiting Vulnerabilities in the OT Cloud Era, Team82 has researched the exploitability of cloud-based management platforms responsible for monitoring ICS, and developed techniques to exploit vulnerabilities in automation vendor CODESYS’ Automation Server and vulnerabilities in the WAGO PLC platform. Team82’s research mimics the top-down and bottom-up paths an attacker would take to either control a Level 1 device in order to eventually compromise the cloud-based management console, or the reverse, commandeer the cloud in order to manipulate all networked field devices.

“Team82’s latest research was motivated by the reality that organisations in the Industry 4.0 era are incorporating cloud technology into their OT and IIoT for simplified management, better business continuity, and improved performance analytics,” said Amir Preminger, VP research at Claroty. “In order to fully reap these rewards, organisations must implement stringent security measures to secure data in transit and at rest, and lock down permissions. We thank the CODESYS and WAGO teams for their swift response, updates, and mitigations that benefit their customers and the ICS domain.”

The new Team82 Research Hub includes the team’s latest research reports, a vulnerability dashboard for tracking the latest disclosures, its coordinated disclosure policy for working with affected vendors, its public PGP Key for securely and safely exchanging vulnerability and research information, and other resources.

To access the Team82 Research Hub, visit claroty.com/team82.

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