Energy Infrastructure

5 automated security scanners

Oil Gas Security

Purpose: The Oil and Gas Security Scanner is designed to assess the security posture of oil and gas infrastructure by evaluating various aspects such as DNS records, HTTP responses, TLS configurations, open ports, and APIs. This tool aims to identify potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited, ensuring a robust defense against cyber threats in the energy sector.

What It Detects:

Insecure DNS Configuration: The scanner checks for missing or weak TXT, MX, NS, CAA, and DMARC records, which are crucial for email security and domain integrity.
Weak HTTP Security Headers: It identifies the absence of necessary security headers like strict-transport-security, content-security-policy, x-frame-options, and x-content-type-options.
Vulnerable TLS/SSL Configurations: The scanner detects outdated protocols (e.g., TLSv1.0, TLSv1.1) and weak cipher suites including those using RC4, DES, or MD5 algorithms.
Open Ports and Services: It scans for open ports that might expose the system to known vulnerabilities in common services like SSH on port 22, HTTP on port 80, and HTTPS on port 443.
API Security Vulnerabilities: The tool analyzes APIs for misconfigurations such as missing authentication mechanisms or insecure endpoints that could be exploited by attackers.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze (e.g., acme.com) - This is the main target of the security assessment.
ip_range (string): IP range to scan for open ports and services (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24) - Specifies the network range to be scanned for identifying open ports and associated services.

Business Impact: Evaluating the security of oil and gas infrastructure is crucial as it supports critical energy operations, which are vital for national and global economies. Security vulnerabilities in this sector can lead to significant disruptions, including environmental risks and economic losses.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Findings include missing or weak DNS records that could facilitate phishing attacks or data theft. Insecure HTTP headers allowing for cross-site scripting (XSS) or clickjacking are also critical.
High: Vulnerabilities in TLS/SSL configurations, such as the use of outdated protocols or weak cipher suites, pose a high risk to data confidentiality and integrity. Unauthenticated access to APIs can lead to unauthorized data exposure or manipulation.
Medium: Open ports on systems that should be secured might allow attackers to exploit services with known vulnerabilities, potentially leading to limited impact but significant concern for operational security.
Low: Informational findings about minor misconfigurations in DNS settings do not pose a direct threat but are still important for maintaining overall network hygiene.
Info: These include details about the presence of certain records or headers that while not critical, contribute to better security posture and compliance with recommended practices.

Example Findings:

A domain example.com has no DMARC policy set up, which could lead to unauthorized use of its email identity and potential phishing attacks (v=DMARC1; p=none).
The API endpoint https://example.com/api/v1/data does not enforce authentication, exposing sensitive information to unauthenticated users (API https://example.com/api/v1/data is insecure or requires authentication).

Renewable Energy Security

Purpose: The Renewable Energy Security Scanner is designed to identify vulnerabilities and security issues in wind farm controls, solar inverters, and energy storage systems by probing DNS records, HTTP requests, TLS/SSL configurations, port availability, and API endpoints.

What It Detects:

Insecure DNS Records: Checks for missing or weak TXT, MX, NS, CAA, DMARC records. Examples of patterns include v=spf1.*[\\+\\-\\~\\?]all for SPF records and v=DMARC1.*p=(none|quarantine|reject) for DMARC records.
Weak HTTP Security Headers: Identifies missing or inadequate security headers such as strict-transport-security, content-security-policy, x-frame-options, and x-content-type-options.
Vulnerable TLS/SSL Configurations: Scans for outdated protocols (e.g., TLSv1.0, TLSv1.1) and weak cipher suites (e.g., RC4, DES, MD5).
Open Ports and Services: Detects open ports that may indicate unauthorized access points or services, with service fingerprinting to identify running services.
API Security Vulnerabilities: Analyzes APIs for common security issues such as lack of authentication, insecure data handling, and outdated versions.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): The domain to analyze (e.g., windfarm.com)
ip_range (string): The IP range to scan for open ports and services (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24)

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial for ensuring the security of renewable energy systems, which are essential components of modern infrastructure. Detecting vulnerabilities in these systems can prevent potential cyber-attacks, data breaches, and physical damage to equipment, thereby safeguarding critical operations and sensitive information.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Conditions that lead to severe vulnerabilities such as complete system compromise or unauthorized access to critical functions are considered critical risks.
High: Risks involving significant security flaws that can be exploited to gain substantial control over the system, potentially leading to data loss or other high impacts.
Medium: Issues that could be exploited but do not directly lead to severe consequences, requiring mitigation efforts.
Low: Informal findings that may indicate suboptimal configurations but are unlikely to pose significant risks without additional exploitation vectors.
Info: Non-critical issues that provide information about the system’s configuration and can be addressed later without immediate concern.

If specific risk levels are not specified in the README, these are inferred based on the severity of detected issues.

Example Findings:

A DNS record for windfarm.com is missing or has a weak SPF record (v=spf1 +a -all), which could lead to unauthorized access attempts.
The HTTP server for windfarm.com does not enforce the strict-transport-security header, exposing it to potential man-in-the-middle attacks.

Nuclear Facility Security

Purpose: The Nuclear Facility Security Scanner is designed to identify vulnerabilities and security weaknesses in nuclear facility safety systems, control systems, and the integration of physical and cyber security measures. Its purpose is to ensure robust protection against potential threats by detecting critical security headers, outdated TLS versions, misconfigured DNS records, unauthorized services, and insecure API practices.

What It Detects:

Security Headers Analysis: Checks for the presence of essential security headers such as Strict-Transport-Security, Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
TLS/SSL Configuration Issues: Identifies outdated or insecure TLS versions (e.g., TLSv1.0, TLSv1.1) and weak cipher suites (e.g., RC4, DES, MD5).
DNS Record Vulnerabilities: Scans for misconfigured DNS records including SPF (v=spf1.*[\\+\\-\\~\\?]all), DMARC (v=DMARC1.*p=(none|quarantine|reject)), and DKIM (v=DKIM1) records.
Port Scanning and Service Fingerprinting: Performs port scanning to identify open ports and uses service fingerprinting to determine the services running on those ports, ensuring no unauthorized or outdated services are exposed.
API Security Evaluation: Analyzes APIs for security headers and potential vulnerabilities, ensuring that they comply with best practices and do not expose sensitive information.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): The domain of the nuclear facility to analyze (e.g., nuclearfacility.com)
ip_range (string): The IP range to scan for open ports and services (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24)

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial for maintaining the security posture of nuclear facilities, ensuring that safety systems are protected against cyber threats and that physical security measures are effectively integrated with digital defenses. The detection of vulnerabilities in DNS records, TLS configurations, and API practices can directly impact the integrity and availability of critical infrastructure.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Conditions where outdated or misconfigured TLS versions are present, exposing severe risks to data confidentiality and integrity.
High: Issues with security headers such as missing or improperly configured headers that can lead to unauthorized access or information exposure.
Medium: DNS records that do not enforce proper authentication mechanisms, potentially allowing phishing attacks or other types of abuse.
Low: Open ports exposing outdated services which may be less critical but still pose a risk if left unaddressed.
Info: Informational findings about misconfigured security headers and TLS settings that while not immediately dangerous, should be addressed for continuous improvement in security practices.

Example Findings:

A DNS SPF record is set to v=spf1.*[\\+\\-\\~\\?]all, which does not specify a proper mechanism for domain authentication, leaving it vulnerable to abuse.
An API endpoint returns only HTTP/1.0 without the recommended Strict-Transport-Security header, increasing the risk of data interception in transit.

Power Generation Security

Purpose: The Power Generation Security Scanner is designed to identify vulnerabilities in generation control systems, protection systems, and remote access mechanisms within energy infrastructure. Its primary goal is to ensure a robust security posture by detecting potential weaknesses that could be exploited by malicious actors.

What It Detects:

Control System Identification: The scanner detects the presence of SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems and identifies industrial control system (ICS) components through DNS queries and HTTP requests.
Protection System Analysis: It analyzes firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and other security measures via TLS inspection and port scanning, checking for outdated or insecure configurations.
Remote Access Vulnerabilities: The scanner identifies open remote access ports such as SSH, Telnet, and VPN endpoints, evaluating the strength of authentication mechanisms used for remote access.
Security Headers Examination: It inspects HTTP responses for critical security headers like Strict-Transport-Security, Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
TLS/SSL Configuration Assessment: The scanner identifies weak or deprecated TLS versions, detects insecure cipher suites and protocol versions in SSL/TLS configurations.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze (e.g., powergrid.com)
ip_range (string): IP range to scan for open ports and services (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24)

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial for maintaining the security of energy infrastructure, as vulnerabilities in generation control systems, protection systems, and remote access mechanisms can lead to significant disruptions, data breaches, or physical damage. The findings from this scanner are critical for formulating effective mitigation strategies and enhancing overall cybersecurity posture.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Conditions that directly compromise the security of the system, such as unpatched software vulnerabilities in critical components.
High: Conditions that pose a significant risk to the integrity or availability of services, such as outdated TLS configurations or unsecured remote access ports.
Medium: Conditions that may lead to suboptimal performance or user inconvenience but do not directly compromise security, such as weak content security policies.
Low: Informative findings that provide insights into potential improvements without immediate risk, such as the presence of deprecated SSL/TLS versions.
Info: Non-critical issues that are useful for continuous improvement and informational purposes.

Example Findings:

A critical vulnerability was detected in the remote access mechanism through an open SSH port (port 22), which poses a high risk as it allows unauthorized access to system configurations and data.
The TLS configuration on the primary domain is outdated, using SSLv3 instead of more secure versions like TLSv1.2, which is identified as medium-risk due to its potential impact on encryption strength and compliance with industry standards.

Transmission Distribution

Purpose: The Transmission Distribution Scanner is designed to evaluate the security posture of transmission distribution infrastructure by probing DNS records, HTTP responses, TLS configurations, open ports, and API endpoints to identify potential vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.

What It Detects:

DNS Record Vulnerabilities:
- Checks for SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records that allow all senders (v=spf1.*[+\-~?]all).
- Ensures proper mail exchange server configurations with MX Records.
- Validates name server configurations with NS Records.
- Verifies certificate authority authorization settings with CAA Records.
- Evaluates domain-based message authentication, reporting, and conformance policies (v=DMARC1.*p=(none|quarantine|reject)).
- Confirms domain keys identified in mail records with DKIM Records.
HTTP Security Headers:
- Ensures secure connections by requiring HTTPS with Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS).
- Protects against cross-site scripting and other code injection attacks with Content-Security-Policy (CSP).
- Prevents clickjacking attacks with X-Frame-Options.
- Mitigates MIME type sniffing vulnerabilities with X-Content-Type-Options.
TLS/SSL Configuration Issues:
- Detects use of outdated protocols like TLSv1.0 and TLSv1.1.
- Identifies weak ciphers such as RC4, DES, and MD5.
Open Ports and Services:
- Identifies open ports that may indicate unauthorized access points through port scanning.
- Determines the services running on identified open ports using service fingerprinting.
API Endpoint Vulnerabilities:
- Checks for security headers in API responses.
- Detects potential version disclosure vulnerabilities.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze (e.g., acme.com).
ip_range (string): IP range to scan for open ports and services (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24).

Business Impact: Assessing the security posture of transmission distribution infrastructure is crucial as it directly impacts data integrity, availability, and confidentiality. Misconfigurations in DNS settings can lead to unauthorized access or data leakage, while weak TLS protocols and ciphers can facilitate man-in-the-middle attacks. Open ports and services not properly secured can provide entry points for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities within the network.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Conditions that directly compromise security, such as allowing all senders in SPF records or using outdated TLS protocols.
High: Conditions that significantly increase risk but do not directly compromise security, such as missing HTTP Security Headers.
Medium: Conditions that indicate potential risks but may require further investigation to confirm vulnerabilities, such as weak ciphers being used.
Low: Informative findings that might suggest best practices or areas for improvement but do not pose immediate threats.
Info: General information about the environment and configurations detected by the scanner.

Example Findings:

“SPF record allows all senders: v=spf1 +all” - This indicates a critical vulnerability where any sender can be authenticated, leading to potential unauthorized access.
“TLSv1.0 is enabled” - Using outdated TLS protocol versions increases the risk of security breaches and does not meet modern security standards.