“Industroyer”, the computer virus that shuts down power stations
After the WannaCry virus recently blocked the systems of the National Health Service in the UK and several police stations in China or India, a new threat has appeared: scientists specialised in cybersecurity discovered a virus that attacks energetic systems, The Guardian reports.
Called “Industroyer”, this is the second computer virus especially created for attacking critical infrastructure and industrial control systems. The first one was the famous Stuxnet, which attacked Iran’s nuclear programme and destroyed some of the centrifuges used for uranium enrichment.
The virus was analysed by experts from security company ESET, producer of the antivirus NOD32. “Industroyer” attacks electricity stations and a series of circuits which use several standard communication protocols for amenities, from electricity to water and gas.
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The virus appeared six months after a cyberattack that caused a blackout in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukraine has accused Russia of attacking its systems, just like in 2015, when a region in the western part of the country was left without energy in another attack.
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