“Hackers believed to be working for a foreign government have recently penetrated the computer networks of power plants across the US, including a nuclear facility in Kansas, according to reports published Thursday.
Security specialists have been responding to attacks at various nuclear power and energy facilities since May, according to an urgent joint report issued June 28 by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI and obtained by the New York Times.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, the two agencies said they “are aware of a potential cyber intrusion affecting entities in the energy sector, but there is no indication of a threat to public safety, as any potential impact appears to be limited to administrative and business networks.”
At least a dozen power plants were affected by the attacks, including the Wolf Creek nuclear facility in Kansas, the reports said. The hackers behind the effort are believed to be working for a foreign government, the chief suspect being Russia, sources told Bloomberg.
A DHS spokesperson would not comment on where the attacks came from and how any facilities were compromised.
Wolf Creek said that while it cannot publicly comment on security issues, its operational controls had not been affected and that the plant is operating safely.”