A German steel mill was targeted in a cyber attack which damaged one of the blast furnaces of the company.
The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) reported the incident in its annual report, which highlighted that the hackers used phishing emails to steal login credentials which were used to enter into the mill’s office network and its production systems.
In its report BSI wrote: "The result was that a blast furnace could be shut down. The attackers were knowledgeable in conventional IT security and had extensive knowledge of applied control and production processes."
The hackers reportedly used social engineering techniques along with the phishing emails to disrupt operations at the plant, reported BBC.
Hackers targeted individuals in the company to open the malicious e mails which granted them with login names and passwords of employees.
The BSI report said that the plant used conventional IT security systems and specialised software are used to oversee and administer the plant, which shows that hackers were familiar with both the systems.
