Internet-Exposed ICS Devices Raise Alarm for Critical Sectors

Researchers scanned the internet for devices responding on Modbus port 502 and, after filtering, identified 179 likely internet-exposed ICS devices across multiple countries — including systems tied to national railways and power grids. The report warns that legacy protocols like Modbus lack encryption and authentication, allowing attackers (even with limited skills) to read or modify critical registers, and recommends basic mitigations such as firewalls, VPNs, segmentation, and stronger authentication to reduce the high-risk exposure of industrial infrastructure.