Russians Have Hacked Dozens Of US Energy Companies, Researchers Say
Source: Buzzfeed News
A hacker group linked to the Russian government has acquired an unprecedented level of access to companies that supply power to the US power grid, a cybersecurity firm says.
Symantec, a California-based firm that provides cybersecurity services and worldwide research against online threats, says the group, which it’s nicknamed Dragonfly 2.0, may have compromised more than a dozen American companies in recent months.
“This is the first time we’ve seen this scale, this aggressiveness, and this level of penetration in the US, for sure,” Eric Chien, technical director of Symantec’s Security Technology & Response Division, told BuzzFeed News.
It’s not uncommon for nation-state hackers to penetrate administrative and business networks of energy companies in the US or elsewhere. But Dragonfly has gained access to multiple operational networks in the US, Symantec says, an unprecedented level of compromise. Previously, such penetrations are known to have happened only in places like Ukraine, where hackers once remotely turned off circuit breakers, leaving nearly a quarter million people without power; Russians are also suspected in that incident, though there’s no evidence the same attackers are behind Dragonfly.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kevincollier/russians-have-hacked-dozens-of-us-energy-companies?utm_term=.nnKlz7XDOV#.pi3GKdvZXN
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