Booz Allen test: AI models complete simulated attacks on industrial systems

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Booz Allen Hamilton's operational technology lab has tested how well frontier AI models can attack industrial control systems, The Register reports. Two unnamed models were given eight attack scenarios, and they met the objective in all eight. The test network was modelled on a manufacturing plant. It included programmable logic controllers, operator screens, a SCADA platform, a variable frequency drive and a collaborative robot arm

The setup had some important limits. The models got no source code or engineering documents. They also needed human approval before exploiting a flaw or taking any physical action, so this was not fully autonomous. Even so, the results are striking

In one scenario, the models went from breaking through the network perimeter to acting inside the industrial control network in just over 16 minutes. In another, they took over the operator's screen. They also found and moved the robot arm, reportedly using the vendor's default login details. A SCADA gateway held open sessions to 14 devices, so compromising one gave access to the rest

Kyle Miller, Booz Allen's vice president for infrastructure cybersecurity, said specialised operational technology knowledge, unfamiliar equipment and complex control environments are no longer meaningful barriers to attack. He added that some organisations are prepared but many are not. Even those with established controls, he said, will need to take a close look at their security posture

The good news is that the weaknesses exploited are well known and fixable. Default passwords, open sessions and poor network separation have been on security checklists for years. AI simply makes it faster and easier to find them. Studies like this give infrastructure operators a strong reason to tackle the basics now, before real attackers use the same tools

Are industrial systems ready for AI powered attacks? And should default passwords on industrial equipment be banned the way they now are for consumer devices?

AI systems are fully capable of carrying out nightmare attacks against infrastructure and nobodywww.theregister.com