The Growing Threat of Ransomware
According to media reports, ransomware attacks against the manufacturing industry have more than tripled compared with last year. This dramatic rise in cyberattacks poses serious concerns about the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructure serving the nation’s electric grid and the government has responded with measures designed to thwart any such efforts.
In the manufacturing sector, a ransomware attack typically involves blocking access to a victim’s computer files. Once the victim pays the specified ransom, access to the files is restored. As more and more manufacturing companies seek to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprints, they are deploying on-site energy equipment that is similar to that used in by electric utility companies. There is increasing concern that these attacks are providing a training ground for coordinated attacks on energy infrastructure in order to disrupt operation of the nation’s bulk power system.
Dive Brief:
The U.S. Department of Energy has confirmed that its computer systems were compromised as part of the devastating SolarWinds hack, though the agency said that so far the malware has not impacted mission essential national security functions.
Fallout from the massive security breach continues, and experts say energy companies are scrambling to assess their networks. It is widely believed Russian hackers associated with that nation s intelligence service are behind the operation, which targeted multiple U.S. government agencies.
Security experts say the hack is unprecedented for its scale and sophistication. The operation was a success for Russia, strategically, and calls into question the security of the United States and our industrial grid, said Matthew Schmidt, an associate professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven.
Governors Wind Energy Coalition
Major hack hits energy companies, U.S. agencies Source: By Blake Sobczak, E&E News reporter • Posted: Tuesday, December 15, 2020
A massive hack of IT service provider SolarWinds led to cybersecurity compromises at multiple federal agencies. At least two of the Energy Department’s national labs use SolarWinds software and may have been affected by the hack, among thousands of other potential victims. Claudine Hellmuth/E&E News (illustration); Francis Chung/E&E News (photo); Freepik (binary code)
Top cybersecurity officials are scrambling to assess the fallout from a far-reaching hack of U.S. federal agencies and global companies, with electric power utilities, at least two Energy Department national labs and thousands of other organizations potentially breached.