Hackers breached a US nuclear power plant's network, and it could be a 'big danger'

[dufus]

View photos

 

nuclear power plant in illinois

More

(A nuclear power plant in Illinois.Bobak Ha'Eri | Wikipedia) 

• A US nuclear facility was breached in a cyberattack, outlets reported on Wednesday.
• The attack was contained to the business-associated side of the plant, and evidence indicates that critical infrastructure was not affected.
• But cybersecurity experts say that now that the network has been infiltrated, the nuclear systems have become "much more vulnerable."

Unidentified hackers recently breached at least one US nuclear power plant and the situation is being investigated by federal officials, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News on Wednesday.

The name and location of the plant have not been released, but cyberattacks have affected "multiple nuclear power generation sites this year," according to E&E News, which was the first to report the story.

It is not yet clear who launched the attack and whether it is connected to a global cyberattack that crippled several countries and corporations beginning on Tuesday.

The breach was contained to the business-associated side of the plant, officials said. So far, little information has come out about the origins of the hack, code named "Nuclear 17," but evidence indicates that the attack was not serious enough to prompt alerts from the public safety systems at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the International Atomic Energy Agency, E&E reported. The information available thus far indicates that nuclear safety is not immediately at direct risk.

But cybersecurity experts say that now that hackers have infiltrated the system, nuclear safety could be at risk down the road. 

"If a nuclear power facility is attacked on the business side, that might actually serve as a way of information-gathering" for hackers, Paulo Shakarian, founder of the cybersecurity firm CYR3CON, told Business Insider. In some cases, hackers will try to "see if, by reaching that system, they can get more insight into what the facility is using on the operational side," Shakarian said. 

"This could be a big danger," he added. "And it could lead to another attack that could be more serious." 

View photos

 

nuclear power

More

(Idaho National Laboratory/flickr) 

 

 

Though nuclear power providers have rigorous practices in place to divide business and nuclear operations in their networks, experts say an attack on one could inform an attack on the other.

A breach to the business-associated end of a nuclear power plant "is very severe and very scary," said Greg Martin, the CEO of cybersecurity firm JASK. He said that while it was "wonderful" that network segmentation prevented hackers from being able to attack critical infrastructure directly, "the business side has tons of information about the more vulnerable infrastructure side of these types of plants." 

That information can include emails; communications involving design plans; information about security assessments; emails or documents that contain passwords; and more. Martin echoed Shakarian's assessment and added that some information that can be gleaned from a breach like this can open up a window that "can be used to set up for future, more damaging attacks just based on the proprietary information they're able to steal."

In the past, when business networks have been hacked, attackers have been able to use the information they obtained to create targeted spear-phishing campaigns that look like existing vendors and email threads accessed via compromised inboxes. 

View photos

 

cybercom army hacking military defense command

More

(Civilian and Army cyber personnel at a Cyber Operations Center in Ft. Gordon, Georgia.Department of Defense/Michael L. Lewis photo) 

This tactic has been used several times but its potential consequences most recently came to light through a leaked National Security Agency intelligence report documenting the extent to which Russia interfered in the 2016 US election in an effort to tip the scales in Donald Trump's favor. According to the document, Russian military intelligence carried out a cyberattack on at least one US voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to over 100 local election officials days before the November election. 

In the case of the nuclear power plant breach, Martin said once hackers had accessed the business network, "it is much, much more vulnerable" despite having a firewall and being segmented off from the operational side. 

"And that can have dramatic effects," he said. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hackers-breached-us-nuclear-power-133655352.html

[steven36]

 

 

Quote

 

Update:  WASHINGTON — Jul 1, 2017, 11:34 PM ET

 

Nuclear industry says no impact seen from hacking campaign

 

 

Officials for the nuclear and electricity industries say there has been no apparent impact from a hacking campaign that has drawn the attention of federal officials.

 

The assurances on Saturday came after federal officials told electricity grid operators this week about a hacking or phishing campaign that has targeted the energy and manufacturing sectors.

John Keeley, spokesman for the industry's Nuclear Energy Institute, says no reactors operating in the U.S. have been affected. Keeley adds that if they had, the incidents would have been reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and made public.

 

He declined further comment, saying the matter is classified.

 

Scott Aaronson, executive director for security for the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned power companies, says there has been no impact to systems controlling power grids. He say the threat was unrelated to this week's ransomware attack against companies around the world.

 

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nuclear-industry-impact-hacking-campaign-48398078

 

[Sylence]

yes America, the hit and run era is long gone. when you hit, you will get stuck there and they will follow you.

 

[steven36]

Quote

 

U.S. trade group says no nuclear power plants have been hacked

 

 

No U.S. nuclear power plant has been penetrated in a cyber attack, an industry spokesman said on Saturday, when asked to comment on a U.S. government warning last week about a hacking campaign targeting the sector.

 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a report dated Wednesday that nuclear sector was among those targeted in a hacking campaign data back to at least May.

 

 

 

Hackers used "phishing" emails to obtain credentials to gain access to networks of their targets, according to a report from the two agencies, which Reuters reported on Friday.

 

 

 

“None of America’s 99 operating nuclear plants have been penetrated by a cyber attack," said John Keeley, a spokesman for industry trade group Nuclear Energy Institute.

 

If a plant's operations had been breached, that would require mandatory notification to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which would notify the public, he said.

 

 

 

 

Those requirements do not cover cyber intrusions on business networks of firms that operate nuclear power plants, said Keeley. He said had no information as to whether such attacks had occurred.

 

 

 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks declined to comment on the joint report, saying the agency does not comment on security-related issues.

 

 

The report from the FBI and Homeland Security, which was reviewed by Reuters on Friday, did not identify any victims or describe the impact hackers had on targeted networks.

 

It did say that cyber attackers have historically "targeted the energy sector with various goals ranging from cyber espionage to the ability to disrupt energy systems in the event of a hostile conflict."

 

Homeland Security and FBI officials did not respond to requests for comment on the report, which was dated June 28.

 

 

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-energy-idUSKBN19M3TM

 

[dufus]

[Sylence]

 

 

 

 

During the past couple months, hackers have attacked multiple nuclear power plants around the United States, reports The New York Times. The identity of the hackers isn't known and we don't know the motive. Among the facilities affected was the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operation Corporation, which oversees a plant near Burlington, Kansas.

The article cites a joint report from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI from last week.

Other targets, including energy companies and manufacturing plants, have been identified. Outside of Wolf Creek, it's unknown if additional nuclear facilities were actually breached. The government's report says there's no indication hackers were able to "jump from their victims' computers into the control systems of the facilities."

 

 

 

Nextpowerup

 

[knowledge-Spammer]

them hackers

[dufus]

On 09/07/2017 at 7:36 PM, saeed_dc said:

identity of the hackers isn't known

 Not So Apparent who it is this time hazard guess r....a