CHANDIGARH: China based cyber threat group recently targeted Punjab state load dispatch center ( SLDC ) and 7 other state load dispatch centers but failed to disturb the power transmission system of the states.
The utilities targeted in the cyber attack are State load Dispatch centre (SLDC ) of Punjab, Tamilnadu, Uttar Pardesh, Himchal Pardesh, Delhi,
Madhya Pardesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana.The cyber attacker targeted these installtions systematically utilising advanced cyber intrusion techniques to gain foothold across the indian power generation and transmission infrastructure. The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) detected the Chinese hackers and issued immediate warnings to state power utilities , and the action taken by the utilities prevented any transmission system breakdown. In case of Punjab SLDC , the timely action taken by them as per messages from NCHPC, the attempts were foiled by blocking malicious IPs in the SCADA and ISP firewalls. Similar actions were also taken by other state load dispatch centers.
Powercom officials informed that the Ministry of Power held an online conference last week to caution the power utilities and listed various
steps to upgrade the system. THe has advised all the state SLDC to do cyber security audit of IT as well as OT system every six months. The next generation firewall may be installed and use updated AV solutions.