A group of Russian hackers, known as “Energetic Bear”, is attacking energy companies in the US and Europe and could potentially lead to a disruption of the electric power system, researchers find, according to Bloomberg.
The hackers, also known as “Dragonfly,” appear to have the resources, size and organization that suggest they have some state support, Symantec Corp. said.
The targets of their attacks are electricity network administrators, oil pipeline administrators, electricity generation companies, as well as other strategically important energy enterprises.
More than half of their attacks have been detected in the US and Spain, but Greece, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Italy and France have also been targeted.
The activities of this hacking group demonstrate that as increasingly large parts of economic activity are connected to and controlled through the internet, they become vulnerable to cybercrime.
These particular hackers, who have been active at least since 2011, appear to work on an office schedule, as their activity is observed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Russia time as well as other Eastern European countries), Monday to Friday.
The same group has previously targeted academics around the world, European governments, and others.
According to Symantec, their actions do not appear to be motivated by espionage, but the company appears to be seriously concerned about the possibility of sabotage.
“The worst possible scenario is that the systems shut down completely. We could have a blackout, for example”, notes the analyst.
Source: lykavitos.gr
