AI-Generated Exploit Scripts Target Siemens S7 PLCs in U.S. Critical Infrastructure
Summary: Five U.S. agencies - NSA, CISA, FBI, DOE, and EPA - warned Wednesday of an active threat using AI-generated exploit scripts against Siemens S7 Series PLCs, with actors using internet scanning services like Censys and ZoomEye to find internet-exposed PLCs running outdated software. The agencies did not attribute the activity to a known threat actor, and said a custom Python script using open-source libraries such as snap7.dll or python-snap7 mimics legitimate monitoring utilities with read/write access to PLC memory, configuration data, and ladder logic via the S7comm protocol.
What's compelling: The agencies name Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Water and Wastewater Systems, Chemical, Food and Agriculture, and Commercial Facilities as targets, and note that AI-assisted script generation lowers the technical expertise and time needed for ICS attacks - so the barrier that once kept poorly secured PLCs out of reach is gone.
Read the original at The Hacker News ↗
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