Power grid was hit by malware, 8 GB of suspicious data: Home Minister Anil Deshmukh

Without naming any foreign entity or country state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh confirmed the possibility of sabotage a cyberattack on the statersquos power system that went kaput on October 12 2020 throwing Mumbai and neighbouring cities into darkness for hours Deshmukh and Energy Minister Nitin Raut addressed a media conference after The New York Times reported the possibility of Chinarsquos role in the attackA shop in Dadar shrouded in darkness on Oct 12Deshmukh cited a probe report of the Maharashtra Cyber Department to substantiate his suspicion However he said the report was preliminary and Raut would decide on further investigationsThe home minister said the Cyber Department has established possibilities based on evidence found while analysing the SCADA Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition system of the state electricity transmission networkldquoSome 14 trojan horse malware were introduced to the statersquos power system In addition 8GB of unaccounted data was transferred to our system and some blacklisted IPs attempted to login into our serverrdquo said DeshmukhDeshmukh did not name China or any foreign company as being responsible for the suspected attack and said the Maharashtra Cyber Departmentrsquos report was inconclusive ldquoA known cyber company has indicated Chinarsquos role Based on our preliminary findings wersquoll probe further if the energy minister wishes sordquo he saidA closed petrol pump in Kandivli on the day of the power outage in Oct 2020 File picRaut said he suspected sabotage from the very beginning ldquoI have received the findings made by the agencies But I canrsquot tell you about these reports because of the ongoing legislative session I can tell on the floor of the houserdquo he addedSuspicion on ChinaThe New York Times NYT reported on February 28 that according to a new study the power outage and skirmishes in the Galwan Valley between Indian and Chinese forces in May 2020 may have been connected The study claims that the outage was a part of a cybercampaign by a Chinese statesponsored group intended to warn India if it presses its border claims too hardThe NYT report said that even as the standoff ensued in the Himalayas malware from China flowed into Indian power supply systemsMassachusettsbased Recorded Future which examines lsquothe use of internet by state actorsrsquo established the flow of the malwareMost of the malware NYT reported was never activated Recorded Future could not study the code as it couldnrsquot access the Indian power systemNYTrsquos report further states that Recorded Future named the group responsible for the malware attack Red Echo It quoted Recorded Futurersquos CEO Stuart Solomon as saying that the group ldquohas been seen to systematically utilize advanced cyberintrusion techniques to quietly gain a foothold in nearly a dozen critical nodes across the Indian power generation and transmission infrastructurerdquoRecorded Futurersquos study also said that the link between the malware and the outage is yet unsubstantiated But ldquoadditional evidence suggested the coordinated targeting of the Indian load dispatch centersrdquo read the NYT report citing the studyJuneMonth in 2020 that Indiarsquos standoff with China took place in Galwan Valley14No of trojan horse malware introduced in the power system