And the Washington Post issues an update…
From the Washington Post / Associated Press
States re-examine cybersecurity after Russia accused of hack
By Associated Press December 31 at 6:41 PM
BURLINGTON, Vt. “” Several states around the country on Saturday asked cybersecurity experts to re-examine state and utility networks after a Vermont utility”s laptop was found to contain malware that U.S. officials say is linked to Russian hackers.
The Burlington Electric Department, one of Vermont”s two largest electric utilities, confirmed Friday it had found on one of its laptops the malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name the U.S. government has given to malicious cyber activity by Russian civilian and military intelligence services.
A Burlington Electric Department spokesman said federal officials have told company officials the threat was not unique to them.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security would not say whether any other utilities, organizations or entities had reported similar malware on their systems following the report. The official said any such information would be confidential.
Officials in New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut said they are more closely monitoring state and utility networks for anything suspicious.
“We specifically have been looking for signatures that match those reported last week by DHS and the FBI related to Russian actors,” Connecticut governor”s office spokesman Chris Collibee said. “We have not detected any activity matching the reported malware at this time.”
In New York, a spokesman said Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed all state agencies to re-examine their computer systems for any security breaches. Nothing had been found.
An attack on a U.S. power grid has long been a nightmare scenario for top U.S. officials. The National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command chief Adm. Michael Rogers have previously warned it”s not a matter of if but when attackers will also target U.S. power systems. SNIP
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