FCC Warns on Security of Uninterruptible Power Supply Devices

The FCC encouraged companies that use uninterruptible power supply (UPS) devices as a primary or backup power source to pay attention to a recent security warning by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Department of Energy. “Those agencies have become aware of threat actors gaining access to a variety of internet-connected UPS devices, often through unchanged default usernames and passwords,” the FCC said Thursday. It advised companies to “immediately enumerate all UPSs and similar systems and ensure they are not accessible from the internet” or make sure they have “compensating controls, such as ensuring the device or system is behind virtual private network, enforcing multifactor authentication, and applying strong, long passwords.”