Chemical & Engineering News Digital Edition ... - IMM@BUCT

e exploited, even those considered lowrisk.
“If someone decides specifically to go
after your organization, it is going to be very
difficult to prevent them from breaking
in,” he says. This gives the chemical sector
reason to be concerned that DHS’s system
could be breeched, resulting in an unintended
dissemination of high-risk facilities’
security and vulnerability information.
Although DHS requires high-risk facilities
to address cybersecurity challenges,
including cybersecurity in a plant’s overall
security profile is a good business practice,
says Christine Adams, director of the
Chemical Sector Cyber Security Program
for industry trade group American Chemistry
Council (ACC) and a senior information
systems manager at Dow Chemical.
The fact that much of the chemical industry
is made up of automated processing
plants that handle large quantities of dangerous
materials not only makes it a target
for terrorist attacks but for cyber attacks,
too, according to Ritchey and Singer.
And adding to industry’s vulnerability
are the sector’s extensive computer networks,
which circle the globe and provide
FUELING CONCERN is the fact that the
Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently
examining thousands of cyber attacks.
Already, the FBI has noticed that the usual
suspects are evolving, changing tactics, and
increasing the sophistication of their attacks.
For example, in the past, cyber assailants
did not associate with each other, but now
virtual gangs are a growing threat, according
to Shawn Henry, assistant director of the
FBI’s Cyber Division. Hackers are banding
together to pool their expertise and carry
out coordinated attacks, he said at a briefing
in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17.
Cyber experts with Booz Allen Hamilton
also agree that attackers’ tactics are changing
to become more sophisticated and,
they say, more prevalent.
When it comes to breeching a system,
Ritchey says targeting an individual who
has broad access within an organization
with the intention of stealthily extracting
information or waging an attack is the
simplest way for a cyber assailant to affect
companies in the chemical industry. He
says the industry is extremely vulnerable to
such “targeted phishing attacks.”
For example, Ritchey explains, a company
employee could receive an e-mail that
says: “Hey Joe, I saw you talking on such and
such a topic. The attached report might interest
to you.” The attached file may in fact
be interesting, relevant, and appear completely
authentic, Ritchey says, but when Joe
opens the file, his user profile, computer, or
network could be compromised without Joe
even knowing. “At this point the attackers
have control,” Ritchey tells C&EN.
This scenario could cause problems for a
company and for its employees, who could
become suspects if information such as
user names and passwords were used by
perpetrators to coordinate an attack.
The fear of what terrorists might do
if they had access to valuable business
information or learned how to remotely
control a manufacturing process is one of
the reasons that DHS has included cybersecurity
when evaluating a chemical facility’s
risk of attack, agency officials note.
Whether you are looking for a simple instrument for a teaching lab
or a sophisticated research instrument, Shimadzu FTIR
spectrophotometers have you covered. Our instruments provide
outstanding performance and specifications that will give you
comfort with the quality of your data.
Delivering optimum FTIR performance, sensitivity, and reliability,
the IRPrestige-21 features a S/N ratio of 40,000:1 and expansion
capabilities to the Near IR and Far IR ranges. Superior to generalpurpose
instruments, the new IRAffinity-1 FTIR is ideal for highprecision
infrared analysis to confirm, identify and detect foreign
matter in a multitude of application areas.
These powerful instruments feature:
Q Long-term stability via a patented flexible joint system and a
dynamic alignment mechanism
Q High-sensitivity DLATGS detector
Q Increased reliability with self-diagnosis at initialization and
continuous monitoring of instrument during operation
Q Protection from humidity with a triple protection interferometer
Q Analysis support programs
Q Compatibility with a wide range of accessories, including the
completely automated AIM-8000 microscope
IRsolution software emphasizes operability with specialized
windows. A variety of optional programs and accessories,
such as those facilitating PLS and multilinear
regression, deconvolution, and mapping
measurement, are also available.
Shimadzu FTIR spectrophotometers clearly
deliver maximum performance and value.
You demand performance and productivity—
Shimadzu delivers.
Learn more about Shimadzu’s FTIR products.
Call (800) 477-1227 or visit us online at
www.ssi.shimadzu.com/FTIR
Shimadzu Scientific Instruments Inc., 7102 Riverwood Dr., Columbia, MD 21046, U.S.A.
Order consumables and accessories on-line at http://store.shimadzu.com
WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG 19 NOVEMBER 3, 2008