Russian company discloses new kind of cyber attack

A Russian cybersecurity firm has unveiled an emerging form of cyber threat that exploits wireless barcode scanner models, posing a risk to e-commerce supply chains. According to a report by Kaspersky experts, the global e-commerce sector, which reached over USD6 trillion in sales since 2019, could suffer significant financial and reputational damage from disruptions or delays in the delivery chain.

To pinpoint potential vulnerabilities, Kaspersky's Security Services researchers scrutinized various cyber-attack vectors in warehouse infrastructure, including attacks executed via different devices within warehouse systems. The discovery of a new attack vector, exploiting a weakness in a barcode scanner model from a prominent manufacturer, has been revealed by the experts.

In a conventional setup, handheld scanners communicate with a base station, which is subsequently linked to a workstation or another business system. The primary vulnerability lies in the absence of authentication between the base station and the scanners. These scanners may serve as an entry point into the warehouse OT network, according to Kaspersky research.

To bolster security in warehouse settings, the researchers suggest verifying every new device before connecting it to the network, turning off any unused Bluetooth interfaces, enforcing robust authentication mechanisms, segmenting warehouse networks to permit only essential connections, promptly applying security updates to both devices and the WMS, restricting account permissions to the minimum necessary, and conducting comprehensive attack path assessments on a regular basis.