Russia ‘hackeded UK UK’Ss infrastructure on election day’’

Spies have warned Britain’s energy companies that they were “likely to have been compromised” in cyber attacks on 8 June, the day of the General Election.

A leaked report by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, accuses “state-sponsored hostile threat actors” of being responsible for the hack, which may also have targeted the manufacturing industry and water companies.

Although the report doesn’t blame Russia, security experts believe hackers backed by Moscow were behind the attack.

No immediate disruption was caused, leading experts to speculate that the aim was to steal usernames and passwords, possibly to use in future attacks.

The NCSC hasn’t confirmed the report, which was obtained by the US tech website Motherboard ( https:// motherboard.vice.com). It said: “We are aware of reports of malicious cyber-activity targeting the energy sector around the globe. We are liaising with our counterparts to better understand the threat and continue to manage any risks to the UK.”

Anonymous sources have also claimed that Russianbacked hackers launched a similar attack on the Republic of Ireland’s power grid.

Attacks have been reported in the US too, including on a nuclear power plant in Kansas. A recent report by the FBI and Homeland Security issued an urgent amber warning to industries, the second-highest level of danger.