Cyberattack that crippled Ukrainian power grid was highly coordinated

Hackers likely caused a Dec. 23 electricity outage in Ukraine by remotely switching breakers to cut power, after installing malware to prevent technicians from detecting the attack, according to a report analyzing how the incident unfolded.

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The report from Washington-based SANS ICS was released late on Saturday, providing the first detailed analysis of what caused a six-hour outage for some 80,000 customers of Western Ukraine's Prykarpattyaoblenergo utility. SANS ICS, which advises infrastructure operators on combating cyberattacks, also said the attackers crippled the utility's customer-service center by flooding it with phone calls to prevent customers from alerting the utility that power was down. More...

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