Researchers say Russian government hackers were behind attempted Poland power outage

A recent investigation has revealed that a failed cyberattack aimed at disrupting Poland's energy grid in December was orchestrated by Russian government hackers, notorious for previous energy-related attacks. Polish Energy Minister Milosz Motyka announced that the incident, which occurred on December 29 and 30, involved attempts to infiltrate two heat and power plants and to compromise communication links between renewable energy sources, including wind turbines and distribution systems. Motyka described the event as the most significant assault on Poland's energy infrastructure in recent years, attributing responsibility to Moscow. Reports indicate that the attack had the potential to deprive over half a million households of heat and electricity. On Friday, cybersecurity firm ESET revealed that it had obtained a sample of the malware used in the attack, identified as DynoWiper. This malicious software, categorized as 'wiper' malware, is specifically designed to irreversibly erase data from computers, rendering them inoperable. ESET linked the malware to the hacking group Sandworm, a faction of Russia's military intelligence agency GRU, with a degree of confidence based on notable similarities to earlier malware investigations involving Sandworm, particularly those targeting Ukraine's energy sector. This cyber incident marks a grim anniversary, occurring almost exactly ten years after Sandworm's initial cyber offensive against Ukraine's energy infrastructure in 2015, which resulted in widespread blackouts affecting more than 230,000 residents in Kyiv. A subsequent attack on Ukraine's energy systems followed the year after. In response to the attempted cyber breach, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk reassured the public that the country's cybersecurity measures were effective, stating, "At no point was critical infrastructure threatened."