NSA Publishes ICS/OT Intrusion Detection Signatures and Analytics

NSA Publishes ICS/OT Intrusion Detection Signatures and Analytics

October 17, 2023 at 07:12AM

The National Security Agency has released a repository called Elitewolf on GitHub, which contains intrusion detection signatures and analytics for hunting malicious activity in industrial control systems and operational technology environments. The release is in response to increased cyber activity targeting critical infrastructure and aims to help organizations implement continuous system monitoring. Users are advised to conduct follow-up analysis to determine if detected activity is malicious.

Key takeaways from the meeting notes are:

1. The National Security Agency (NSA) has published a repository called Elitewolf on GitHub. It contains intrusion detection signatures and analytics specifically focused on ICS/SCADA/OT environments.
2. The capability is aimed at helping critical infrastructure entities, defense industrial base, national security systems, and other infrastructure owners and operators implement continuous system monitoring.
3. The release of this capability is in response to increased cyber activity targeting critical infrastructure and vulnerable OT systems.
4. Three years ago, the NSA and CISA warned about heightened targeting of critical infrastructure and urged entities to improve the security and resilience of their systems.
5. Various resources have been released by the NSA and CISA to help organizations enhance their network security and address vulnerabilities.
6. The NSA emphasizes that the newly released signatures and analytics may not be associated with malicious activity and further analysis is required to determine their nature.
7. Critical infrastructure owners and operators using ICS/SCADA/OT systems are encouraged to include this new capability in their system monitoring program to detect potential malicious activity.

Full Article