Sources Claim Telvent Hacking Linked to Group in China

By

There are reports that the recent hacking of a Canadian software maker was linked to a source in China. The Canadian government is not confirming the allegation, however, and China denies it.

Telvent, owned by France's Schneider Electric SA, affected the company’s system in the United States, Canada and Spain, according to KrebsOnSecurity.com. The website also said its sources are blaming the attack on Chinese hackers.

Canadian officials, however, did not identify the source of the attack as China, Reuters said. The Chinese government denies it was involved in the hacking.

Telvent manufactures software used by energy companies to manage the production and distribution of electricity. Its technology is used for power grids and smart energy technology.

The hackers broke into Telvent’s network, installed malicious software and apparently took files, The Register reported. The attack may have affected some customer files, The Register added.

“Criminals can now study the documents for vulnerabilities in the systems, and potentially devise attacks to sabotage nations' electricity distribution networks,” The Register warned.

Telvent systems manage over 60 percent of the total hydrocarbon movements in North and Latin America, and controls transmission and distribution of over 140,000 GWh via electrical grids.

The Register says Dell SecureWorks alleges the “Comment Group” could be responsible for the hacking. The Comment Group is a large and active hacking group in China, according to Sophos.

Meanwhile, Telvent cut data links between some of its internal network and clients' systems, while it investigates the attack.

“Although we do not have any reason to believe that the intruder(s) acquired any information that would enable them to gain access to a customer system, or that any of the compromised computers have been connected to a customer system, as a further precautionary measure, we indefinitely terminated any customer system access by Telvent,” the company said in a statement carried by Sophos.

Dale Peterson, founder of Digital Bond, told Wired that "some project files contain the 'recipe' for the operations of a customer, describing calculations and frequencies at which systems run or when they should be turned on or off.”

Telvent informed customers about the attack in a recent letter. The hacking was discovered on Sept. 10.

Last year, Chinese officials denied it was involved in the alleged hacking of U.S. civilian satellites, TechZone360 said.




Edited by Braden Becker
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

TechZone360 Contributor

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

Can Science Outsmart Deepfake Deceivers? Klick Labs Proposes an Emerging Solution

By: Alex Passett    3/25/2024

Researchers at Klick Labs were able to identify audio deepfakes from authentic audio recordings via new vocal biomarker technology (alongside AI model…

Read More

Top 5 Best Ways to Integrate Technology for Successful Project-Based Learning

By: Contributing Writer    3/19/2024

Project-based learning, also popularly known as the PBL curriculum, emphasizes using and integrating technology with classroom teaching. This approach…

Read More

How to Protect Your Website From LDAP Injection Attacks

By: Contributing Writer    3/12/2024

Prevent LDAP injection attacks with regular testing, limiting access privileges, sanitizing user input, and applying the proper encoding functions.

Read More

Azure Cost Optimization: 5 Things You Can Do to Save on Azure

By: Contributing Writer    3/7/2024

Azure cost optimization is the process of managing and reducing the overall cost of using Azure. It involves understanding the resources you're using,…

Read More

Massive Meta Apps and Services Outage Impacts Users Worldwide

By: Alex Passett    3/5/2024

Meta's suite of apps and services are experiencing major global outages on Super Tuesday 2024.

Read More