Banking Malware Targeting Infrastructure SCADA Networks Like Stuxnet Did, but for What Purpose?

Researcher spots spike in traditional financial malware hitting ICS/SCADA networks -- posing as popular GE, Siemens, and Advantech HMI products.

A renowned ICS/SCADA security researcher has discovered a surprising twist in cyberattacks hitting plant floor networks: traditional banking Trojan malware posing as legitimate ICS software updates and files rather than the dreaded nation-state custom malware in the wake of Stuxnet.

Kyle Wilhoit, senior threat researcher with Trend Micro, recently found 13 different types of crimeware versions disguised as human machine interface (HMI) products Siemens Simatic WinCC, GE Cimplicity, and Advantech device drivers and other files. The attacks appear to be coming from traditional cybercriminals rather than nation-state attackers, and are not using cyber espionage-type malware.

"It's an interesting trend -- traditional banking Trojans, not targeted attacks," Wilhoit says.

The ICS/SCADA community has been understandably on alert for the next Stuxnet-type attack, and recent discoveries of malware such as Havex and BlackEnergy, both of which have been detected targeting that environment, have put these types of nation-state, targeted attacks in focus.

But Wilhoit says his findings show that traditional cybercriminals are looking for targets in the ICS/SCADA world, and likely for money-making rather than spying or sabotage purposes. "So to succeed in attacking SCADA, you don't have to necessarily be targeted in nature... The ultimate end goal here is probably not industrialized espionage, but to get banking credentials" or other financially lucrative information, he says.

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