Cyberattacks Put Russian Fingers on the Switch at Power Plants, U.S. Says

Lee Atwater · Mar 15, 2018

The Trump administration accused Russia on Thursday of engineering a series of cyberattacks that targeted American and European nuclear power plants and water and electric systems, and could have sabotaged or shut power plants off at will.

United States officials and private security firms saw the attacks as a signal by Moscow that it could disrupt the West’s critical facilities in the event of a conflict.

They said the strikes accelerated in late 2015, at the same time the Russian interference in the American election was underway. The attackers had compromised some operators in North America and Europe by spring 2017, after President Trump was inaugurated.

In the following months, according to a Department of Homeland Security report issued on Thursday, Russian hackers made their way to machines with access to critical control systems at power plants that were not identified. The hackers never went so far as to sabotage or shut down the computer systems that guide the operations of the plants.

Still, new computer screenshots released by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday made clear that Russian state hackers had the foothold they would have needed to manipulate or shut down power plants.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/...column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
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So Russia can turn the lights out. Not funny.

Lee Atwater · Mar 15, 2018

Duplicate thread, my mistake.

Lesh · Mar 16, 2018

That Trumpers don't care is just insane

precision · Mar 16, 2018

Like I said, look out for the jew Rothschild banking cartel mafia sock puppet. He's on the loose folks.

waltky · Mar 16, 2018

Russian hacking operation failed to knock out grid...

U.S. says Russian hack did not compromise power grid, plants
Mar 16, 2018 | WASHINGTON — A Russian government hacking operation aimed at the U.S. power grid did not compromise operations at any of the nation’s power plants, federal regulators and the industry said Friday.

Corporate networks at some of the 99 nuclear power plants licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were affected by the 2017 hack aimed at the energy grid and other infrastructure, but no safety, security or emergency preparedness functions were impacted, the NRC said in a statement. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also said the incident had no operational impacts on interstate transmission of electricity. Even so, government and industry leaders said the attacks underscored the increased threat of electronic and computer-based attacks on a range of infrastructure. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the prolonged cyberattack “demonstrates exactly why” he is creating an Office of Cyber Security and Emergency Response. The new office will consolidate and strengthen efforts to “combat the growing nefarious cyber threats we face,” Perry said, adding that his department worked closely with other federal agencies and energy providers to help ensure that hacking attempts “failed or were stopped.”

The Trump administration accused Moscow on Thursday of an elaborate plot to penetrate America’s electric grid, factories, water supply and even air travel through cyber hacking. U.S. national security officials said the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and intelligence agencies determined Russian intelligence and others were behind a broad range of cyberattacks starting more than a year ago. Russian hackers infiltrated the networks that run the basic services Americans rely on each day: nuclear power, water and manufacturing plants. U.S. officials said the hackers chose their targets methodically, obtained access to computer systems, conducted “network reconnaissance” and then attempted to cover their tracks by deleting evidence of the intrusions. The operation resorted to various methods — including a kind of cyberattack known as spear-phishing — to try to compromise legitimate user accounts, gather user credentials, and target industrial control systems and their networks, officials said. The U.S. government has helped the industries expel the Russians from all systems known to have been penetrated, but additional breaches could be discovered, officials said.

A Russian government hacking operation aimed at the U.S. power grid did not compromise operations at any of the nation's power plants, federal regulators and the industry said Friday.

The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry lobbying group, said the Russian hacking campaign targeting U.S. infrastructure “demonstrated that America’s nuclear plants can withstand a nation-state sponsored attack.” U.S. nuclear plants are designed as operational “islands” that are not connected to the internet and other networks. Nuclear power provides about 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric companies that provide electricity for about 220 million Americans, said the government informed energy grid operators last year of a threat targeting them. “While this incident did not have operational impacts, we have worked across the sector and with government partners to ensure the ongoing protection of the grid from this specific threat and from all cyber and physical security risks,” said Scott Aaronson, the group’s vice president of security and preparedness. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee, criticized the “belated response” by the Trump administration to Russian cyber threats and urged “a robust and aggressive strategy to protect our critical infrastructure.”

Calling cyber security “an issue that keeps me up at night,” Cantwell said the grid and its infrastructure are “under attack from the Russians and other foreign actors. If we don’t make the necessary investments … our enemies could succeed in causing a blackout that harms our economy.” The accusations that Russia was behind the cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure came as the Trump administration targeted Russians with sanctions for alleged election meddling for the first time since President Donald Trump took office. The list of Russians being punished includes all 13 indicted last month by special counsel Robert Mueller, a tacit acknowledgement by the administration that at least some of Mueller’s Russia-related probe has merit. Trump has repeatedly sought to discredit Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election, but the sanctions appeared to rely on the special counsel’s legal conclusions in deciding who should be named. The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-says-russian-hack-did-not-compromise-power-grid-plants
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Lesh · Mar 16, 2018

precision said: ↑

Like I said, look out for the jew Rothschild banking cartel mafia sock puppet. He's on the loose folks.
Click to expand...

Like I said...look out for sock puppets

Lesh · Mar 16, 2018

waltky said: ↑

Russian hacking operation failed to knock out grid...

U.S. says Russian hack did not compromise power grid, plants
Mar 16, 2018 | WASHINGTON — A Russian government hacking operation aimed at the U.S. power grid did not compromise operations at any of the nation’s power plants, federal regulators and the industry said Friday.
Click to expand...

This time.

What about when they get serious?

waltky · Sep 18, 2018

US intel warns of Russian threat to power grid...

US military given more authority to launch preventative cyberattacks
Tue September 18, 2018 - The US military is taking a more aggressive stance against foreign government hackers who are targeting the US and is being granted more authority to launch preventative cyberstrikes, according to a summary of the Department of Defense's new Cyber Strategy

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The Pentagon is referring to the new stance as "defend forward," and the strategy will allow the US military "to disrupt or halt malicious cyber activity at its source, including activity that falls below the level of armed conflict." The new military strategy, signed by Defense Secretary James Mattis, also emphasizes an intention to "build a more lethal force" of first-strike hackers. The "defend forward" initiative wasn't included in the 2015 strategy and further enables the United States to carry out offensive hacking operations to defend against cyberattacks on critical US infrastructure, such as election systems and the energy grid.

In effect, it gives the US military more authority to act on its own -- even against computer networks based in friendly countries. Normally, one nation's hackers will establish a computer network in a second country before launching an attack on a third country. For example, Russia might use computers in Germany to attack the United States. Until recently, if the US National Security Agency observed Russian hackers building a computer network in a Western European country, the president's National Security Council would need to weigh in before any action is taken. Now, the NSA won't have to give its seal of approval, according to Jason Healey, a senior research scholar at Columbia University and former George W. Bush White House cyber official.

US intel warns of Russian threat to power grid

This new strategy provides a roadmap for the military to wipe out the enemy computer network in a friendly country, said Healey. "It's extremely risky to be doing this," Healey told CNN on Tuesday. "If you loosen the rules of engagement, sometimes you're going to mess that up." There is a growing threat from government-sponsored cyberattacks that disrupt civilian life. There is a major focus on Russian efforts to disrupt the 2018 midterms and there is a concern they may target US infrastructure. In 2015, Moscow was formally accused of hacking Ukraine's electric grid in an unprecedented cyberattack that led to widespread power outages.

In 2016 and 2017, North Korea stole $81 million from Bangladesh's central bank and carried out a worldwide attack on Microsoft computers through a ransomware attack known as "WannaCry 2.0." However, under the new strategy, US offensive cyberattacks will not target civilian infrastructure, because the US must abide by a UN agreement that prohibits "damaging civilian critical infrastructure during peacetime." This is the Trump administration's second move to give the US military more autonomy over cyberattacks. It follows the National Security Council's recent replacement of an Obama-era directive with one that gives US Cyber Command -- the military's hackers -- more freedom to conduct counteroffensive hacking.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/18/politics/us-military-cyberattacks-authority/index.html
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Cyberattacks Put Russian Fingers on the Switch at Power Plants, U.S. Says

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Cyberattacks Put Russian Fingers on the Switch at Power Plants, U.S. Says

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