Moscow malware
Russian hackers attack power grid to create mischief and reveal our cyber vulnerability.
The Russians haven’t stopped trying to make Americans lose confidence in our nation by sowing seeds of doubt, not only about our elections but how we carry out our everyday lives.
While President Trump suggests voter ID will protect democracy, inanely asserting you have to show identification to buy groceries, serious minds should turn attention to the real threat: Russian hackers, whose criminal activity now includes tapping into computer systems used to power to our homes and businesses.
A new Department of Homeland Security report says Russia’s military intelligence agency infiltrated the control rooms of power plants across the United States last year by using phishing tools to trick workers into revealing passwords.
Fortunately, the Russians limited their focus to reconnaissance instead of causing mass blackouts. “They went in … and found weaknesses,” said Jonathan Homer, DHS chief of industrial control system analysis. Such activity shouldn’t be surprising. The CIA concluded that Russia used cyberattacks in 2015 and 2016 to partially disable Ukraine’s electric grid, and used the tactic again last year to cripple that country’s financial system.
As if the electric grid news weren’t bad enough, Facebook reported Tuesday that it had again been duped by Russian operatives into posting fake information designed to increase divisiveness. Facebook said it had removed 32 pages and fake accounts used to make political posts on controversial topics such as #AbolishICE and Black Lives Matter.
David E. Sanger warns in his book, “The Perfect Weapon,” that America must protect itself from a “cyber Pearl Harbor.” That requires action by all levels of government. Yet, the White House seems unmoved. On the very day Facebook disclosed new attacks, the Trump administration eliminated the position of cybersecurity coordinator on the National Security Council.
National security adviser John R. Bolton said lower-level officials could handle those duties. That must be music to the ears of the Russians who hacked into state election systems and Democratic Party officials’ computers during the 2016 election. The Trump administration risks making America’s electric grid the next casualty in this undeclared cyberwar.
Andrew Barlow, communications director for the Public Utility Commission of Texas, says it has taken a more aggressive approach by hiring a cybersecurity expert in June who will report directly to PUC Executive Director John Paul Urban. State agencies and utilities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Idaho, North Dakota, and Rhode Island are also stepping up their game to prevent cyberattacks.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is being aggressive too, recently requiring utilities to report all cyber incidents, including phishing, reconnaissance, or other data collection attempts, even if there was no disruption of electric service. “Cyber security is critical to protecting the nation’s energy infrastructure, and we need to be vigilant and proactive in doing so,” said FERC Chairman Kevin J. McIntyre.
That message needs to get across to Senate Republicans, who voted down legislation Wednesday to direct an extra $250 million toward election security before the midterms. And it needs to get across to the president, who in his zeal to discredit the ongoing election tampering investigation, is not adequately protecting the nation from future cyberattacks.
The Russians have no fear of our president. They didn’t blink an eye after 12 Russian intelligence officers were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for hacking the emails of top Democratic Party officials. They know Russian President Vladimir Putin will never surrender his techno henchmen for prosecution.
Defense is the best offense in cyberwar. Retaliating with cyberattacks on Russia would take us back to the Cold War days of mutually assured destruction — fearing cities without electricity, financial institutions unable to function, travel too dangerous to attempt.
Preventing the enemy from breaching our walls will better ensure America’s future. We can’t let the partisan tone over Russia’s election hacking blind us to the bigger threat that knows no partisan bounds. All of America is the target. Every level of government must ensure our electric grid and other vulnerable infrastructure are protected.