Click to Translate to English Click to Translate to French  Click to Translate to Spanish  Click to Translate to German  Click to Translate to Italian  Click to Translate to Japanese  Click to Translate to Chinese Simplified  Click to Translate to Korean  Click to Translate to Arabic  Click to Translate to Russian  Click to Translate to Portuguese  Click to Translate to Myanmar (Burmese)

PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL
123456
Forum Home Forum Home > Off Topic Forum > Off Topic Discussion > Talk about anything
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - 'Russia hacking code' found on Vermont utility com
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Now tracking the new emerging South Africa Omicron Variant

'Russia hacking code' found on Vermont utility com

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
arirish View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: June 19 2013
Location: Arkansas
Status: Offline
Points: 39215
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arirish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: 'Russia hacking code' found on Vermont utility com
    Posted: December 31 2016 at 6:54am
'Russia hacking code' found on Vermont utility computer

An electrical company in the US state of Vermont says it has found malware code allegedly used by Russian hackers on one of its company laptops.

The Burlington Electric Department said it had taken "immediate action to isolate" the computer, which was not connected to the electrical grid.

The government alerted them to the "Grizzly Steppe" code on Thursday.

The same day, the US expelled 35 Russian diplomats over alleged Russian interference in November's election.

Moscow has denied any involvement in the hacking of the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.




On Friday, US President-elect Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for not expelling American diplomats in a tit-for-tat response.

Diplomatic spat goes undiplomatic

Can the hack be traced to Russia?

The Burlington company said it was "working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems".

It has also briefed state officials and vowed to fully support the investigation.

The statement followed a Washington Post report, citing unnamed US officials, that Russian hackers had penetrated the electrical facility, underlining the vulnerability of America's national grid.

According to the news website, US authorities were unclear why Russian hackers might have targeted the grid.

"The incursion may have been designed to disrupt the utility's operations or as a test to see whether they could penetrate a portion of the grid," it added.

'Systemic, relentless, predatory'

Politicians in Vermont, including the Democrat Governor, Peter Shumlin, are calling for a full investigation into the incident.

Democratic congressman Peter Welch said the discovery "howed "how rampant Russian hacking is".

"It's systemic, relentless, predatory," he added.

US officials believe Russia was behind the hacking of Ukraine's electrical grid in December 2015, which plunged parts of the country into darkness and left about 225,000 people without power.

Experts said it was the first known power outage caused by a cyber attack.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38479179
Buy more ammo!
Back to Top
CRS, DrPH View Drop Down
Expert Level Adviser
Expert Level Adviser


Joined: January 20 2014
Location: Arizona
Status: Offline
Points: 26660
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CRS, DrPH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 01 2017 at 5:17pm
I'm not entirely convinced of this one.  We went through a similar situation with a water utility in Illinois that appeared to have been hacked from a Russian IP:


However, the risk to the US cyber infrastructure is very real. 
CRS, DrPH
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down