"A cyberattack that targeted power plants and other energy producers in Poland at the end of December used malware known as a “wiper” that was intended to erase computers and in an operation that was intended to cause a power outage and other disruption to services, says European security firm ESET, which obtained a copy of the malware used in the attack.
Wipers are designed to delete or overwrite critical files on a computer in order to render them inoperable. They have been used extensively by Russia against targets in Ukraine before and during its current war with that country.
Robert Lipovsky, principal threat intelligence researcher for the Slovakian firm, whose team has examined the malware – which they're calling DynoWiper – says the operation is “unprecedented” in Poland, since past cyberattacks targeting that country were not disruptive in nature or intent.
“Pulling off a disruptive cyberattack against the Polish energy sector is a big deal,” he told Zero Day.
Although the attack was thwarted, Polish authorities have stated that if successful it could have taken out power to 500,000 people in Poland. Polish officials haven't revealed how the hackers pulled off the attack or how officials determined the intent was to be disruptive or destructive, but the use of a wiper supports a conclusion that this was the intent of the attack.
Officials there have attributed the attack to Russia, and Lipovsky says his team concurs."
https://www.zetter-zeroday.com/cyberattack-targeting-polands-energy-grid-used-a-wiper/
#CyberWarfare #CyberSecurity #Poland #Russia #StateHacking #EnergyGrid
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