Union power minister, R.K. Singh, has said that the country has a strong line of defence against any kind of cyber attack on its power grid, according to a reliable media report.
Singh’s statement came in the wake of reports of a China-backed attack targeting the power grid in Ladakh.
According to the minister, there were “probing” attacks in December last year as well as in January and February this year. These attacks were not successful.
There were such attacks in 2018 as well on which India acted upon promptly and started putting up protocols in place.
These protocols are working and are being strengthened every day, the minister said, adding that the country’s defence against cyber attacks is now very strong.
There are reports that power sector in the country was targeted by hackers in a long-term operation which was carried out by a state-sponsored (Chinese) group. According to the reports, the hackers targeted seven Indian state centres responsible for carrying out electrical dispatch and grid control near a border area disputed by the two nuclear neighbours.
The group reportedly used the trojan ShadowPad, which is believed to have been developed by contractors for China’s Ministry of State Security, leading to the conclusion that this was a state-sponsored hacking effort.
Meanwhile, in Beijing, Chinese government denied reports that its hackers targeted the Indian power grid in Ladakh.
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He was responding to a query about a report by private intelligence firm Recorded Future on Wednesday that claimed that suspected Chinese hackers targeted the Indian power grid in an apparent cyber espionage campaign.
China routinely denies allegations of hacking by its state-sponsored hackers, demanding evidence. It also claims that it is a victim of hacking from US networks.
(This news item has been sourced from Business Standard with additional inputs from PTI. Featured photograph is for representation only.)
