Along With Kudankulam, ISRO Also Warned About Cyber Security Breach: Report
By MYBRANDBOOK
On September 4, both the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were alerted about a possible cyber security breach in their systems by a suspected malware, Indian Express has reported. The warning came from a US-based cyber security company, which said a “threat actor” had breached master “domain controllers”.
The NPCIL breach, at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, became public on October 28. After first denying the reports, NPCIL confirmed a day later that it had, in fact, been hit by a malware. It was also quick to add, though, that the potentially compromised administrative network was “isolated from the critical internal network” and that the plant’s systems were not affected.
A Department of Atomic Energy probe reportedly found that a user had connected a malware-infected personal computer to the plant’s administrative network.
ISRO did not respond to the Indian Express‘s requests for comments, neither has the space agency issued a public statement. However, sources reportedly confirmed to the newspaper that authorities swung into action immediately after the alert was received, especially since the Chandrayaan 2 lunar landing (which failed) was scheduled for about 100 hours after that.
The malware used has been identified as ‘Dtrack’.
A Russian cyber security company, Kaspersky Labs, had said on September 23 that “banks and research centres in India” were targeted by Dtrack “in the beginning of September 2019”, and this was the latest detected activity of the malware. According to them, the malware was the work of Lazarus, “an umbrella name that typically describes hacking activity which advances Pyongyang’s interests”.
After the breach at Kudankulam became public, Seoul-based non-profit Issue MakersLab said that the same malware had also been used against South Korea’s internal military network in 2016.
VirusTotal, a virus-scanning website run by Alphabet, found that a large amount of administrative data was stoled from Kudankulam, Washington Post reported. This means, the paper argues, that subsequent attacks could have serious repercussions for more critical systems. Cyber attacks “can be used to facilitate sabotage, theft of nuclear materials, or - in the worst-case scenario - a reactor meltdown. In a densely populated country like India, any radiation release from a nuclear facility would be a major disaster”, the newspaper says.
NPCIL’s response, according to the Washington Post, indicates that Indian authorities might not be taking these threats seriously enough. Isolating a computer or a local network from the internet - which is what the power company said it is doing - does not do much to guarantee cyber security.
“Given the low threshold of military escalation between India and Pakistan, and high potential for escalation from cyber to the real world, India may wish to treat the Kudankulam attack as a wake-up call about its vulnerable cyber defenses at nuclear facilities and other critical infrastructure,” the author, Debak Das, writes.
BREAKING NEWS
TECHNO TRENDS
Legal Battle Over IT Act Intensifies Amid Musk’s India Plans
The outcome of the legal dispute between X Corp and the Indian government c...
Wipro inks 10-year deal with Phoenix Group's ReAssure UK worth
The agreement, executed through Wipro and its 100% subsidiary,...
Centre announces that DPDP Rules nearing Finalisation by April
The government seeks to refine the rules for robust data protection, ensuri...
Home Ministry cracks down on PoS agents in digital arrest scam
Digital arrest scams are a growing cybercrime where victims are coerced or ...
E-Magazine
TECHNOTAINMENT
Hrithik Roshan to endorse RuPay as Brand Ambassador
RuPay is reportedly planning to feature Bollywood superstar Hrithik Rosha
India Today Group launches – AI Pop Stars
Staying true to our industry leadership position in using cutting-edge tech
MOVERS & SHAKERS
TelioLabs ropes in Phaniraj V A as the Group CEO
TelioLabs has announced the onboarding of Phaniraj V A as its new Group CE
Wipro Appoints Amit Kumar as Managing Partner and Global Head
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading technology s
OPEN YOUR EYES
INTERVIEWS
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Carrying a 100 year legacy ahead
A good amount of R&D works and global support services are operated out of
Alpha Max offers high end solutions in the network space to en
The vision at Alpha Max is to attain quality as the trademark and create a
HOT PICK
MSI Announces the availability of RTX 50 series of laptops in
MSI, the innovative computing manufacturer in gaming, creator
Nothing Phone (3a) goes on sale today, starting at Rs 19,999
The phone was launched on March 4, featuring a 50MP main, ultra-wide, and t
MAKE IN INDIA BRANDS
LUMINOUS POWER TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD.
DELL TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PVT. LTD.
TVS ELECTRONICS LTD.
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD.
EMINENT CIO'S OF INDIA
ICONS OF INDIA
Icons Of India : Debjani Ghosh
Debjani Ghosh is the President of the National Association of Software...
Icons Of India : Arjun Malhotra
Arjun Malhotra, the Chairman of Magic Software Inc., is widely recogni...
Icons Of India : Deepak Sharma
Deepak Sharma spearheads Schneider Electric India. He brings with him ...
PARTNER SPEAKERS
PSU
NSE - National Stock Exchange
NSE is the leading stock exchange in India....
BSE - Bombay Stock Exchange
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is one of India’s largest and oldest...
NPCI - National Payments Corporation of India
NPCI is an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and set...
VIDEOS
Top 25 Brands
Global Indian industry
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO- Micron Technology
Sanjay Mehrotra, the President and CEO of Micron Technology, is at the...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Satya Nadella, Chairman & CEO- Microsoft
Satya Nadella, the Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, recently emphasized ...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - George Kurian, CEO, Netapp
George Kurian, the CEO of global data storage and management services ...
ITFORUM 2025
CMO of the Year
WOMEN LEADERSHIP
IMAGE GALLERY
TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY
MORE VIDEOS
ADVERTISEMENTS
TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION
UNICORNS REVOLUTIONISING
of images belongs to the respective copyright holders
