CYBER ATTACK AT KUDANKULAM; SYSTEM SAFE
NEW DELHI: A part of a network in India’s largest civil nuclear facility, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu, was breached earlier this year, according to an official and a cyber security expert involved in the detection of a hack that is feared to have originated on foreign soil. The attack, both these people told HT, did not compromise critical systems — which are contained in an isolated network to create an “air gap” — linked to the functioning of the plant, but gained access to the plant’s administrative network.
NEW DELHI: A part of a network in India’s largest civil nuclear facility, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu, was breached earlier this year, according to an official and a cyber security expert involved in the detection of a hack that is feared to have originated on foreign soil.
The attack, both these people told HT, did not compromise critical systems — which are contained in an isolated network to create an “air gap” — linked to the functioning of the plant, but gained access to the plant’s administrative network.
“Domain controller-level access [gained] at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. The government was notified way back,” said cyber security professional Pukhraj Singh, who in a series of tweets on Monday and Tuesday contended that he was first alerted by a “third party” that discovered the hack and had in turn alerted the National Cyber Security Coordinator on September 3.
“And there was another target way more serious,” he told HT, without giving more details.
KNPP released a statement on Tuesday denying that sensitive systems were compromised. “KNPP and other Indian nuclear power plants are not connected to outside cyber network and internet. Any cyber attack on the Nuclear Power Plant Control System is not possible,” it said.
Singh, who has worked with government agencies in the past, clarified after the statement was issued that the attack was on an administrative network and not the operational one.