A new malware capable of knocking out networks that run power grids around the globe has been discovered by cyber security companies.
It was discovered by a computer security company studying a previous attack on the Ukrainian power grid. U.S. power providers are alarmed especially at the sophistication of the program.
The malicious code is capable of directly controlling electricity substation switches and circuit breakers and could potentially be used to turn off power distribution or to physically damage equipment used in electricity distribution.
Two things stand out about the malware, dubbed “Industroyer” by the researchers — it’s an order of magnitude easier to use than previous programs and it wasn’t actually deployed to do any real damage, meaning whoever’s behind the previous attack might simply have been testing the waters by running a proof of concept.
Industroyer’s ease-of-use is so disturbing because industrial systems as electricity grids are still playing security catch-up.