Power grid security

New Furtim Malware Can Shut Down European Power Grid Facilities

A recent study by German researchers showed the world how there are several dozencritical infrastructure control systems hooked up to the Public Internet. In most cases, there is no need to have these systems accessible to everyone in the world. However, this has spurred some ideas among internet criminals, as they continue to develop new forms of malware.

SentinelOne researchers came across a new offering on the deep web which targets energy networks specifically. Furtim, as this malware is called, will infect computers and create a backdoor to execute future attacks. Particularly European energy companies relying on the Windows operating system will be vulnerable to this new tool.

Although this new malware was released back in May of 2016, it is still a severe threat to this very day. It is possible this is a state-sponsored malware initiative, albeit that has not been confirmed just yet. One thing is certain; Furtim is a very sophisticated tool and not something that was cobbled together in a few hours of spare time.