Over 4,400 Rockwell PLCs Exposed Online, 22 Found in Water Attack Cities

Forescout found 22 internet-facing Rockwell Automation programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in cities hit by recent cyberattacks on US water utilities. Nineteen used the same mobile carrier network. Its August 3 scan counted 4,407 exposed Rockwell controllers worldwide, including 2,844 in the United States, but Forescout could not confirm any were compromised. That figure counts exposed

Because attacks of this type can go unnoticed for extended periods, the window between initial compromise and detection is often the deciding factor in the eventual impact.

Beyond patching, organizations should inventory exposed services, disable unused functionality, and require multi-factor authentication wherever it can be deployed.