Hackers Claim Control Over Venice Flood Defense System

• •Hackers claim control over Venice's flood defense system, threatening to disable it.
• •The group has maintained access for months and is offering root access for $600.
• •This incident reflects increasing vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure globally.

A hacking group known as the 'Infrastructure Destruction Squad' claims to have breached the hydraulic pump system protecting Venice's St. Mark's Square from flooding. They assert they can disable flood defenses and potentially flood coastal areas, threatening critical infrastructure worth approximately $4.7 million. The group, which communicates in Mandarin, suggests they have maintained access to the system for months and are willing to sell root access for $600. This incident highlights vulnerabilities in Italy's flood risk reduction systems and raises alarms about the potential for digital actions to cause real-world disasters. The attack follows a series of intrusions attributed to the same group, which previously targeted Latvia. The US CISA and FBI have reported similar threats from Iran-linked actors against US infrastructure. The situation underscores the growing risk to critical infrastructure worldwide.