Hey! Remember Chernobyl? If you’re over 40, chances are good that you do; to my generation, it was what Hiroshima was to my parents. And if you ever wondered why being able to do things manually is a vital skill that shouldn’t be lost, just imagine for yourselves what would be going on right now if there were no manual overrides there:
The automatic radiation monitoring system at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was hit by a cyberattack Tuesday and monitoring was being carried out manually, according to a Ukrainian federal agency.
“Due to the temporary disconnection of the Windows system, the radiation monitoring in the area of the industrial site is carried out manually,” the agency for control of the Chernobyl exclusion zone said in a statement.
The statement also said that all “technological systems of the station operate in the normal mode,” but that “in connection with the cyberattack, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant website is not working.”
A number of companies and agencies across Europe reported that they were under cyberattack on Tuesday, including Russian oil and gas company Rosneft and Danish shipping firm Maersk. The source of the attack is not yet clear.
I don’t know what makes me want to smack my forehead harder…that some sick joker actually WANTS another Chernobyl meltdown, or that the plant is on the WinDoze system. For fuck’s sakes, people — if you can’t do Linux, at least get Macs! It’s not that they’re unhackable (no computer is), but at least they’re less vulnerable to some stupid script kiddie who thinks it would be cute to watch everyone scramble like they’re doing right now.
PS: Word’s out that there’s a ransomware bug currently making the rounds, named Petya. It’s MS-based and seems a likely candidate for the problems at Chernobyl, Rosneft and Maersk. PC owners, grab the patch and protect yourselves.