Ukrainian blackout blamed on cyber-attack - Telegraph
▻http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/12082758/Ukrainian-blackout-blamed-on-cyber-attack-in-world-first.html
A blackout that left thousands without electricity in Ukraine has been blamed on a sophisticated cyber-attack, in the first known example of hacking bringing down a major power network.
The attack, which left around 700,000 homes in Western Ukraine without power for several hours on December 23, had been blamed on Russia by Ukrainian authorities.
It has now emerged that hackers inserted malicious software in systems used by several electricity networks, and in one case –the Prykarpattyaoblenergo network - successfully shut down power and prevented computers from rebooting, bringing the network offline.
It is the first confirmed case of power networks being brought down by hackers, confirming fears that have existed for years among energy companies and security experts.
Security company Eset, which examined the incident, said that so-called “#BlackEnergy” malware had infiltrated the energy networks, activating a “KillDisk” component that would prevent systems from rebooting.
“This particular variant contained code specifically intended to sabotage industrial systems,” Eset
[…]
iSight Partners, an intelligence firm, told technology website Ars Technica that the group behind BlackEnergy, dubbed the #Sandworm gang, has ties to Russia.
