Forescout Research Tests Whether AI Can Create PLC Attacks
Brief
New research from Forescout’s Vedere Labs has demonstrated how artificial intelligence could begin to lower the barriers to developing sophisticated cyberattacks against industrial systems.
The research set out to answer a potentially important question for operational technology (OT) security: can AI successfully adapt a remote code execution (RCE) exploit developed for one programmable logic controller (PLC) so that it works against another?
Researchers tested this by using AI to help port an existing RCE exploit between two WAGO PLC models. The experiment was ultimately successful, demonstrating that AI can assist with highly specialised exploit development in embedded environments.
However, the results also showed that AI is not yet capable of doing this independently.