Malicious Email ‘Tricked Recipients Into Revealing Passwords’
The same Russian hacking operation named by the federal government Thursday in documents detailing why it is imposing sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s government was able to penetrate the U.S. power grid in Vermont, federal officials have told The Washington Post. Like many hacking attacks, the unnamed Vermont power company’s system was compromised via a malicious email “that tricked their recipients into revealing passwords,” the Post reported Friday evening.
“While the Russians did not actively use the code to disrupt operations of the utility, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a security matter, the penetration of the nation’s electrical grid is significant because it represents a potentially serious vulnerability,” the Post adds.
The Wall Street Journal Friday afternoon had reported “Experts believe Russian hackers linked to the DNC breach are also behind attacks on utilities in Ukraine and U.S., leaving domestic power grid exposed.”
This is not the first time the hackers have hit the US grid, the Journal notes.
“A team of Russian hackers that has been linked to this year’s cyberbreach of the Democratic National Committee was also behind a successful attack in 2015 on three different utilities in Ukraine that caused unprecedented blackouts, according to government and independent security experts.”
“The same group is thought by those experts to be behind successful cyberattacks on several U.S. energy companies in 2014 that gave the hackers access to company industrial control networks.”
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