60
60
60
60
60
Risky Bulletin: White House lets private companies carry out offensive cyber ops
A White House memo directs DHS to create a program letting vetted private companies conduct US-government-directed offensive cyber operations against cybercrime.
A presidential memo tasks the DHS National Coordination Center with building a program, under DOJ and DHS oversight, through which private-sector companies can conduct offensive cyber operations against large-scale cybercrime organizations. Requirements include secure facilities, vetted personnel, a $1 million escrow for damages, and written approvals co-signed by DHS and DOJ executive directors. The program must launch within 60 days, around October 11, expanding a March executive order targeting scam compounds, ransomware, and other large-scale cybercrime.
65
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
US agencies warn of AI-powered attacks on Siemens industrial controllers
NSA, CISA, FBI, DOE, and EPA warn threat actors use AI-assisted scripts and snap7 libraries to access internet-exposed Siemens S7 PLCs in critical infrastructure sectors.
NSA, CISA, FBI, DOE, and EPA issued a joint advisory warning that threat actors combine open-source snap7.dll/python-snap7 libraries with AI-generated scripts to gain read/write access to Siemens S7-200 through S7-1500 PLCs over the S7comm protocol. Actors use Censys and ZoomEye to find internet-exposed devices and abuse default or weak credentials, with activity assessed as persistent reconnaissance and positioning for future write operations. Agencies urge device inventory, patching, removing PLCs from the internet, and hardening; the pattern resembles Iran-linked CyberAv3ngers targeting of Rockwell, Schneider, and Siemens PLCs.
70
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60