Russian hackers in action, hit the U.S. electrical network

United States hit again by the attack of Russian hackers: this time the electrical network in Vermont was hit. The infected computer was immediately isolated

New forms of espionage pass through codes, malware and small tricks thought up by hacker groups. According to a report from the United States, a code associated with a group of Russian cyber criminals has recently tried to infect the US power grid in Vermont.

The attempt can be traced back to Grizzly Steppa. The news was reported by the Washington Post and according to the first reconstructions, the sabotage attempt can be traced back to the Russian hacker group belonging to Grizzly Steppa. “We acted quickly to scan all computers in our system for malware,” authorities explained in a statement.  “We detected the malware in a single laptop inside the Burlington electrical department, this device is not connected to our organization’s network systems. We have taken immediate action to isolate the laptop.”

Why these attempts?

The main idea of using this virus is to figure out how to take possession of other people’s energy networks. This way it is possible to overload or shut them down. The Russian embassy has not made any comment, but relations between Russian and U.S. hackers have soured over the past year. Under the Obama administration, nine attempts perfectly traceable to Russian hackers have been reported and 35 diplomats have been turned away from US territory for helping these cyber criminal groups. In the beginning, bank sites were the most affected, then the election rigging scandal and now attempts to sabotage electrical grids.