In 2010, the world witnessed a groundbreaking cyberattack known as Stuxnet, which specifically targeted Siemens industrial control systems at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility. This malware was uniquely designed to cause physical damage to industrial equipment while reporting normal operations to monitoring systems, making detection challenging. The attack exploited multiple zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows and Siemens software, marking the first known instance where a cyberattack led to physical destruction of infrastructure. en.wikipedia.org
The Stuxnet incident has had a profound impact on the cybersecurity landscape, particularly concerning industrial control systems (ICS). It underscored the critical need for robust security measures in ICS, which often operate on isolated networks and are perceived as secure from internet-based threats. The attack demonstrated that even air-gapped systems are vulnerable to sophisticated cyber intrusions. In response, there has been a concerted effort to enhance the security of ICS, with organizations like ESET identifying new malware, such as Industroyer, that pose similar threats to critical infrastructure. eset.com