Hackers Gain 'Switch-Flipping' Access to US Power Grid Control Systems

[Eugene]

Source: Wired

ANDY GREENBERG
SECURITY
09.06.1706:00 AM

HACKERS GAIN ‘SWITCH-FLIPPING’ ACCESS TO US POWER GRID CONTROL SYSTEMS

IN AN ERA of hacker attacks on critical infrastructure, even a run-of-the-mill malware infection on an electric utility’s network is enough to raise alarm bells. But the latest collection of power grid penetrations went far deeper: Security firm Symantec is warning that a series of recent hacker attacks not only compromised energy companies in the US and Europe but also resulted in the intruders gaining hands-on access to power grid operations—enough control that they could have induced blackouts on American soil at will.

Symantec on Wednesday revealed a new campaign of attacks by a group it is calling Dragonfly 2.0, which it says targeted dozens of energy companies in the spring and summer of this year. In more than 20 cases, Symantec says the hackers successfully gained access to the target companies’ networks. And at a handful of US power firms and at least one company in Turkey—none of which Symantec will name—their forensic analysis found that the hackers obtained what they call operational access: control of the interfaces power company engineers use to send actual commands to equipment like circuit breakers, giving them the ability to stop the flow of electricity into US homes and businesses.

“There’s a difference between being a step away from conducting sabotage and actually being in a position to conduct sabotage ... being able to flip the switch on power generation,” says Eric Chien, a Symantec security analyst. “We’re now talking about on-the-ground technical evidence this could happen in the US, and there’s nothing left standing in the way except the motivation of some actor out in the world.”

Never before have hackers been shown to have that level of control of American power company systems, Chien notes. The only comparable situations, he says, have been the repeated hacker attacks on the Ukrainian grid that twice caused power outages in the country in late 2015 and 2016, the first known hacker-induced blackouts.

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Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/hackers-gain-switch-flipping-access-to-us-power-systems/

[njhoneybadger]

1. Repeated attacks on the Ukrainian grid

Gee, I wonder who would be behind that.

[Zoonart]

2. If you need another reason to not sleep at night read:

Light Out, by Ted Koppel, who interviews both energy and intelligence officials who tell him it is not a matter of IF but WHEN, hackers gain control of our systems and shut them down.

Sneaking suspicions are being realized with the possible move to ban Kapersky security software from Government systems. I think the horse is already out of that barn.

[blueinredohio]

3. I guess when it starts affecting congress they will do something

[Dustlawyer]

4. It is solar energy's fault!