Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid through a utility in Vermont, U.S. officials say

originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance

A code associated with the Russian hacking operation dubbed Grizzly Steppe by the Obama administration has been detected within the system of a Vermont utility, according to U.S. officials.

"A code".... What the hell does that even mean?

It means that it was a bit (fragment) of malware code or a worm or some other kind of hacking "code" that can be fingerprinted back to a particular group of hackers just like fingerprints at a crime scene. They have ways of tracing thing back to origin as well, from what Snowden has said, and that was years ago.

Anyway, that is what I am understanding from the usage of the word "code."

originally posted by: goou111

originally posted by: xuenchen
This is another story to press the "Russian" meme.

according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a security matter

People keep reading enough stories and it triggers the uncontrollable urge to automatically believe the Russian election hacking theories are all true.

Somebody is really pushing this hard.

On the other we have to control the urge to automatically not believe it just because Trump.

Not because Trump......because no proof. Where's the proof? Can you show some proof?

Has the U.S. offered any proof of Russian hacking?

a reply to: Naturallywired

I agree.. but one infected mobile phone inside and you have access..

Yes i work in Networking and i know intranet and closed circuits etc... but if these hackers are really the ducks nuts then in sure theyve found a way to use a mobile phones wifi/bluetooth to access something inside...

FAKE NEWS

This is another prong of the boy obamas attack. This is him banging on his highchair tray. BOOHOOOO



Poor losers are still losers

a reply to: goou111And who started this fake news story, Obama???

originally posted by: xuenchen
This is another story to press the "Russian" meme.

according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a security matter

People keep reading enough stories and it triggers the uncontrollable urge to automatically believe the Russian election hacking theories are all true.

Somebody is really pushing this hard.

And you're doing the Russian's work for them by claiming this is some kind of anti-Russian propaganda!

Well played! )))

The hacking isn't so scary as having control systems hooked up and exposed to the internet. (Anything exposed to the internet in some way for long enough is going to be affected by hacking from many sources regardless.) Those types of things should really be on a separate intranet rather than internet. And those plant and remote operation networks really should be air-gapped from the internet.

If anything is on the general internet, it'd be instrumentation. And as such, the data should be locked in a way that would be read-only as is needed for monitoring. Again, this should be separate from controls. Think of a webcam watching gages, but having no connection to anything that can affect what those gages are reading.

However I guess some people don't think things through or think it's convenient to combine control systems with instrumentation, and taking shortcuts with those is where the way into systems are likely being found.

So even if hacking like this causes problems, part of the blame should be on the management that made the decision to expose things in a way detrimental to security. Basically you've got people deciding it's a good idea to park the car outside unlocked with the keys in it, but somehow deciding they're nowhere at fault when what's to be expected actually happens.

originally posted by: xuenchen
This is another story to press the "Russian" meme.

according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a security matter

People keep reading enough stories and it triggers the uncontrollable urge to automatically believe the Russian election hacking theories are all true.

Somebody is really pushing this hard.

Just like the right and Unnamed FBI sources bringing "evidence" against Clinton. They ate that up so quickly with no proof.

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: dragonridr
a reply to: schuyler


They don't connect command and control systems directly to the internet. However that doesn't mean a program cant get on the system either so there very well could be a Russian program on the internal network its happened before.

www.reuters.com...

Everything has to connect using the internet. They use a separate network called an intranet . These intranets use their own infrastructure (DNS , DHCP , servers , etc.) . They are basically "isolated" within the internet as they are their own ISP.

Yes, and employees on an "intranet" usually have Microsoft Outlook or some kind of access to outside internet on their computers. Unless you work for Lockheed Martin's Skunkworks or something, you probably don't see a lot of air-gapped computers (physically separated).

It's entirely possible to have computers that have access to both an "intranet" (internal network for internal use only) and "internet" (outside internet).

All someone has to do is hack into someone's work-based email. Maybe a phishing email disguised as a sysadmin message saying their spam filter needs to be updated. Click on that ...

Once a keylogger or something else is on the computer (or something even more sophisticated) it can worm its way around and find shared intranet network drives, LDAP databases with usernames/passwords...

Yeah, I can totally see some moron at a power company clicking on something in his work email and getting the utility company compromised. It happens all the time with ransomware with big companies. That's why netsec IT guys make the big bucks.

You can't fix stupid though. That old lady about to retire who surfs the web on her lunch hour about cats might really think "FREE CAT PICS DAILY!" is an OK email to open. Seriously, I've seen some pretty competent people open/click on some insanely stupid things from their work terminals.

originally posted by: visitedbythem
FAKE NEWS

This is another prong of the boy obamas attack. This is him banging on his highchair tray. BOOHOOOO



Poor losers are still losers

So fake we have known about people hacking our power grid for years and has been reported on for years!

originally posted by: Naturallywired
I call BS. Power plants are not online. It's intranet not internet. Infrastructure as this is not "Online", they are a closed intranet. Separate.

I've been in the field long enough to tell you the lines are fuzzy, here.
I personally know a guy who connects to outside networks from a nuke plant here in the states.
I personally know several guys who specialize in white hat data exfiltration.
Now, stealing data is one step below taking control, and white hats are always a few steps behind black hats, but I see banks regularly backed by these guys.

Remember when the whole east coast went dark for a week? Power plants didn't have basic clocks working correctly.

Not saying they were compromised, just saying they're a soft target.

Having said that, I expect we will see a lot of US fabricated anti Russian propaganda soon. This included.

Where is the movement to block propaganda, anyway? I'd rather the lies I have to listen to not come from the same crooks who write the laws I have to follow.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin on attempted Russian hacking of Burlington electric grid: 'Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world's leading thugs, Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality-of-life' - NBC News

He called Putin right out.

www.nbcnews.com...

originally posted by: Kettu

originally posted by: xuenchen
This is another story to press the "Russian" meme.

according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a security matter

People keep reading enough stories and it triggers the uncontrollable urge to automatically believe the Russian election hacking theories are all true.

Somebody is really pushing this hard.

And you're doing the Russian's work for them by claiming this is some kind of anti-Russian propaganda!

Well played! )))

When you show proof I'm on board.

originally posted by: goou111

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin on attempted Russian hacking of Burlington electric grid: 'Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world's leading thugs, Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality-of-life' - NBC News

He called Putin right out.

www.nbcnews.com...

Putin called for proof, the ball is in the Obama administration's Court ..

If what our government, the Obama administration's assertions is true then I agree we should be concerned, but without some proof I can only logically consider their claims as propaganda.

a reply to: Kettu
You have to be on the internal network first . Have a MAC address and IP on the intranet.. No other way

originally posted by: goou111

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin on attempted Russian hacking of Burlington electric grid: 'Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world's leading thugs, Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality-of-life' - NBC News

He called Putin right out.

www.nbcnews.com...

Well, yeah. He's on the "Russia did it!" Train.
Easy to point fingers when you're bias.

originally posted by: Pyle

originally posted by: xuenchen
This is another story to press the "Russian" meme.

according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a security matter

People keep reading enough stories and it triggers the uncontrollable urge to automatically believe the Russian election hacking theories are all true.

Somebody is really pushing this hard.

Just like the right and Unnamed FBI sources bringing "evidence" against Clinton. They ate that up so quickly with no proof.

LOL

The government reports exposed Clinton.

All nice and official.

"Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin didn't hold back in a scathing message issued Friday that linked Russia's President Vladimir Putin to the cyber threat.
"Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world's leading thugs, Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality-of-life, economy, health, and safety," said Shumlin in a written statement."

...how much the man was payed off / has been solidly blackmailed ,
to play a Stooge like that...?

a reply to: schuyler

This thread was about the article being another piece of fake news. Not about electronic things and the hacking of the same. So about that "news," I'll bet it was from a demo writer/newspaper wanting to stack the deck in the way they want it to fall.

originally posted by: xuenchen
This is another story to press the "Russian" meme.

according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a security matter

People keep reading enough stories and it triggers the uncontrollable urge to automatically believe the Russian election hacking theories are all true.

Somebody is really pushing this hard.

Except, of course, if it isn't a "meme" and is the truth? Wouldn't you be working against America right now by insisting it's a fake story?

Tell me, xu, what do you gain by willfully ignoring a threat to the United States? Aren't you guys supposed to be the hyper-vigilant ones who would rather stop immigration of an entire religion to the US rather than risk one radical getting through? Why no vigilance towards Putin and the Russians?

You think we are actually "friends" with them??? Are you that naive???

Good Lord.

So our own Intelligence Services are the enemy to our own country and Russia is now the good guys.

That's some kind of crazy you are all dealing in. And dangerous too.

(make it a vodka)