--- title: "Bizarre Malware Is Disabling Safety Systems at Industrial Plants" description: "New malware is targeting safety systems at industrial plants around the world — the same systems, ominously, that protect nuclear power stations." date: "2019-03-09" modified: "2019-03-09" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/bizarre-malware-disabling-safety-systems-industrial-plants" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "cybersecurity" - "industrial" - "malware" - "terrorism" --- # Bizarre Malware Is Disabling Safety Systems at Industrial Plants ![New malware is targeting safety systems at industrial plants around the world — the same systems, ominously, that protect nuclear power stations.]() *\Image: PIXABAY\* ## Deadly Malware The world has grown accustomed to malware that steals your credit card information or demands bitcoin to access your files. But a new hacker tool is targeting the safety systems at industrial plants around the world, according to a [fascinating investigation]() in the *MIT Technology Review* — the same safety systems, ominously, that protect nuclear power stations and water treatment facilities. "In a worst-case scenario, the rogue code could have led to the release of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas or caused explosions, putting lives at risk both at the facility and in the surrounding area," wrote *MIT Tech*'s Martin Giles of an incident when the malware was found to have attacked a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia. ## Lives at Risk Researchers call the malware Triton. It's apparently been spreading since 2014, but researchers didn't become aware of it until around 2017. What's most worrisome, one source told *MIT Tech*, was that the malware crosses a new ethical line. "Targeting safety systems just seemed to be off limits morally and really hard to do technically," Joe Slowik, a former information warfare officer in the US Navy who now works at Dragos, an industrial cybersecurity firm that's been tracking the spread of Triton, told the magazine. ## Nuclear Option At a speech last year, according to *MIT Tech*, former U.S. director of national intelligence Dan Coats warned that chances were growing of a debilitating cyberattack on American infrastructure. "Here we are nearly two decades later, and I’m here to say the warning lights are blinking red again," said Coats at the event. "Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack." **READ MORE:** [Triton is the world’s most murderous malware, and it’s spreading]() \[*MIT Technology Review*\] **More on malware:** *[Cryptomining Malware Is Infecting Corporate Networks Worldwide]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()