To Damage OT Systems, Hackers Tap USBs, Old Bugs & Malware

Industrial threat actors are increasingly using USB removable media to bridge air-gapped operational technology (OT) networks and gain footholds, then relying on legacy malware and known vulnerabilities (several CVEs from 2010–2018) and living-off-the-land techniques to collect data, escalate privileges, evade defenses, persist, and cause disruption or destruction; defenders are advised to enforce strict USB policies and use media-sanitization kiosks and controlled file-transfer processes.