US agencies warn hackers of fuel tank monitoring attacks

Multiple U.S. federal agencies are warning that hackers are actively targeting internet-connected systems used to monitor fuel and liquid storage tanks, raising concerns about potential theft, environmental damage, and safety risks. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in coordination with the FBI, NSA, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and other partners, issued an advisory detailing ongoing malicious activity against Automatic Tank Gauge (ATG) systems.

These systems are widely deployed across critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, chemical, food and agriculture, and transportation. They remotely monitor storage tank levels, temperatures, and potential leaks at facilities such as gas stations, manufacturing plants, hospitals, and military bases. Officials said threat actors have been compromising internet-exposed ATG devices and modifying them through command execution.

The attacks exploit several technical weaknesses. These include authentication bypass vulnerabilities and hardcoded credentials that grant access to device management interfaces. Attackers are also using operating system command execution and SQL injection...