Okay, I have not seen anything about this here yet, so I thought I would write a short diary on it. According to the Washington Post, a utility in Vermont appears to have been hacked by the Russian operation known as “Grizzly Steppe”, as a malware code used by them was discovered in a laptop used by the utility. The Russians had not yet used the code to disrupt operations. According to the Post-
Burlington Electric said in a statement that the company detected a malware code used in the Grizzly Steppe operation in a laptop that was not connected to the organization’s grid systems. The firm said it took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alert federal authorities.
It appears that the Obama administration made the code available to 16 sectors nationwide, including the utility sector, so that they could look in their systems and see if any had the malware within their systems. Apparently, Vermont has been the first to find it and reported it to the government right away.
This looks like to me a little cyber warfare light. As in, they are testing our systems for vulnerabilities. I think we probably do some of this too, but with all that we are finding out about Russian hacking lately, it seems that Russia is a pretty busy player in this field. I hope we are keeping up. Under Obama I feel pretty safe, but lord only knows what will happen when Trump takes office.
According to the Post article
The DHS and FBI also publicly posted information about the malware Thursday as part of a joint analysis report, saying that the Russian military and civilian services’ activity “is part of an ongoing campaign of cyber-
enabled operations directed at the U.S. government and its citizens.”
And
“The question remains: Are they in other systems and what was the intent?” a U.S. official said.
Well hell skippy yeah, that would be the 64,000 dollar question. Let’s hope the Trump administration is as open to finding out the answer to that question as the Obama administration is. Somehow, I just don’t think he is quite as interested.
Saturday, Dec 31, 2016 · 7:38:14 PM +00:00
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bassinduo
This is my second diary, and first time on the Rec list! Thanks everyone! Some have pointed out in the comments that this diary is a bit on the alarmist side, if so, that was not my intention. I did block quote the Burlington electric statement that the laptop was NOT connected to the grid. I also said I think the Russians were probing and we probably do the same. My real fear, is not Russia or Putin, but Trump’s reaction to these probing attempts. I don’t trust that he will do the right thing.
But thanks for all the pointers, I take them to heart. And again, thanks for the rec list! Happy and prosperous new year to everyone at DKOS, my favorite site for liberal and progressive news and thought!