Quote:Human Interface Systems lacking any kind of security have the potential to cause serious damage to critical services worldwide.

On Tuesday, researchers from Trend Micro published a report on the ways that Human Interface Systems (HMI), which are found in thousands of utilities worldwide, can be exploited.

HMIs are necessary for human operators to be able to interact with supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. If an HMI can be successfully compromised, this can potentially lead to the exposure of SCADA systems -- which, in turn, can give attackers access to the heart of industrial operations.