Devices connected to the IoT (Internet of Things) are growing rapidly, making cybercriminals . The reason? IoT products are constantly multiplying and as they are connected to each other, when one device becomes a hacker's target, they can easily be affected by all of them.
And while routers have been and remain the main target for IoT cyberattacks, Internet-connected gas pumps are now increasingly being discussed on Dark Web forums.
This revelation was made by researchers at Trend Micro, who conducted research on Dark Web online markets in five different languages: Russian, Portuguese, English, Arabic and Spanish.
The conclusion from a study on IoT cyberattacks is that the Russian market is by far the most sophisticated in the underground communities and the one that will generate the most revenue through exploits. Russian government legislation requires that all electricity meters in the country be replaced with smart meters. This makes it easy for hackers to modify the firmware of these devices and sell them to unsuspecting users. It has been observed that smart meters are modified in such a way that they record less, resulting in the final bill of users being smaller. However, many are now searching the Russian Dark Webfor information and ways to hack their gas pumps.
The reasons for these attacks are most often for a good cause, since they reduce the costs of ordinary citizens. However, it is not at all unlikely that hacking gas pumps could cause disastrous results. They could, for example, be used for DDoS(Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. A previous report by Trend Micro shows that remote and unsecured gas pumps can be used by hackers to cause greater physical damage.
Of course, there are ways to protect gas pumps and similar devices from hacking attacks. Operators of these devices should consider using VPNs for encryption and mutual authentication for both the device and the user. Finally, frequent software updates and patches are essential.
