In what is a continued escalation of the new age “cyber war” that is already raking up old enmities between the United States and Russia, the Burlington Electric Department in Vermont has confirmed that it found “Grizzly Steppe” malware on one of its company laptops.
Grizzly Steppe is the name now given by the Department of Homeland Security to the Russian-mounted cybersecurity threat campaign – or, to put it simple, hacking – against the U.S.
Using the opportunity to lambast Russia, Rep. Peter Welch, in a statement, said:
“This attack shows how rampant Russian hacking is. It’s systemic, relentless, predatory. They will hack everywhere, even Vermont, in pursuit of opportunities to disrupt our country.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said that the malware’s discovery “goes beyond hackers having electronic joy rides,” adding that state-sponsored Russian hacking was now a serious threat.
For its part, Burlington Electric, in a statement to the Associated Press that was later reported by the Washington Post, said that they took “immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials.” The email statement from Burlington Electric showed that, at the time the malware was discovered, the laptop was not connected to the company’s power grid systems.
In a statement from Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, he said: “Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world’s leading thugs, (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality-of-life, economy, health, and safety.”
This issue further fuels American sentiment against Putin’s Russia, which seems to be acting with increasing impunity and unabashed temerity against the interests of the United States.
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Source: Fox News
