US charges four Russians over energy sector cyber-attacks

• 2 years ago (2022-03-25)
• David Flin

Cyber security 8 Middle East 310 North America 998 Transmission 181

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The US has charged four Russian government employees with cyber-attacks on the global energy sector, targeting hundreds of companies and organisations in over 100 countries. Their activities are believed to have caused two separate emergency shutdowns at a facility in Saudi Arabia.

The indictment links the individuals to the FSB, Russia’s security service.

The accused are alleged to have launched malicious software designed to compromise the safety of energy facilities. One attack was launched against a petro-chemical plant in Saudi Arabia, installing Triton malware on a safety system. This caused a fault that led to the refinery’s electric safety systems initiating two automatic emergency shutdowns.

A second indictment charges three hackers associated with Centre 16 of the FSB, alleging that they engaged in computer intrusions of companies and organisations in the international energy sector, including nuclear power plants and power transmission systems. The group was indicted by the FBI for targeting systems at the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant in Kansas, USA in 2017, although this attack had no impact.