Communications of the ACM
Ukraine Thwarts Cyberattack on Electric Grid, Officials Say
Russia has launched devastating assaults on Ukraine, but major cyber disruptions widely anticipated by analysts have not materialized.
Credit: Sergei Ilnitsky/Shutterstock.
Ukrainian authorities neutralized a cyberattack against the country's electric grid hours before it was set to launch on Friday, officials said, adding that the assault bore similarities to a successful disruption in 2016.
Malware was detected in systems at a regional energy transmitter, top energy and cyber officials in Ukraine said on Tuesday. Code analysis showed a trigger timed for April 8, they added.
"I stress the point that civil infrastructure was targeted to disrupt the electricity supply," Farid Safarov, deputy minister of energy, said in a call with reporters Tuesday, through an interpreter. He declined to name the energy transmitter or the region that would have been affected, but said it is operated by a private company.
Had the hack been successful, millions of individuals, as well as businesses in the region, might have lost power, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal
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