Spurred by a Cyberspace Solarium op-ed, Nate Jones gives an overview of cybersecurity worries in the maritime sector, where there is certainly plenty to worry about. I critique the U.S. government's December 2020 National Maritime Cybersecurity Strategy, a 36-page tome that, once the intro and summary and appendices and blank pages are subtracted, boils down to eight pages of substance. Luckily, the Atlantic Council has filled the void with its own report on the topic.
Of course, the maritime sector isn't the only one we should be concerned about. Sultan Meghji points to the deeply troubling state of industrial control security, as illustrated by a "10 out of 10" vulnerability recently identified in a Rockwell Automation ICS system.
Still, sometimes software rot serves a good purpose. Maury Shenk tells us about decay in Russia's SORM – a site-blocking system that may be buckling under the weight of the Ukraine invasion. Talking about SORM allows me to trash a nothingburger story perpetrated by three New York Times reporters who ought to know better. Adam Satariano, Paul Mozur and Aaron Krolik should be ashamed of themselves for writing a long story suggesting that Nokia did something wrong by selling Russia telecom gear that enables wiretaps. Since the same wiretap features are required by Western governments as a matter of law, Nokia could hardly do anything else. SORM and its abuses were all carried out by Russian companies. I suspect that, after wading through a boatload of leaked documents, these three (three!) reporters just couldn't admit there was no there there.
