Exploiting Heavy Equipment
In this episode of the Kill Chain Podcast host Marcus Q discusses the risks and vulnerabilities in construction and heavy equipment with cyber warfare expert Terry Reinert. The discussion includes some of the recent reports on the risks facing construction, mining, and logistics industries and how criminals are exploiting heavy equipment including port cranes, bulldozers, long haul logistics, and more.
Heavy equipment including construction vehicles, long haul logistics vehicles, and even port cranes utilize similar systems to passenger vehicles. These heavy equipment platforms utilize CAN (controller area network) and the J1939 protocol. J1939 PGNs or Parameter Group Numbers comprise an 18-bit subset of the 29-bit extended CAN ID. The PGN serves as a unique frame identifier within the J1939 standard which is used for heavy equipment. For a great deep dive into J1939 check out CSS Electronics post here. CAN is used as its physical layer and is a very common physical layer in heavy equipment because of its durable properties. Exploiting heavy equipment is similar to exploiting passenger vehicles. These platforms utilize similar systems and are becoming increasingly connected meaning they have expanded attack vectors for criminals to take advantage of.
Additional Resources From This Episode
Read more about protecting smart construction vehicles here.
Want to discuss ways you can protect your fleet vehicles from compromise? Contact us here.
