On December 23, 2015, the
power grid
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
in two western oblasts of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
was hacked, which resulted in
power outages for roughly 230,000 consumers in Ukraine for 1-6 hours. The attack took place during the ongoing
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...
(2014-present) and is attributed to a Russian
advanced persistent threat group known as "
Sandworm". It is the first publicly acknowledged successful cyberattack on a power grid.
Description
On 23 December 2015, hackers using the
BlackEnergy 3 malware remotely compromised information systems of three energy distribution companies in Ukraine and temporarily disrupted the electricity supply to consumers. Most affected were consumers of Prykarpattyaoblenergo ( uk, Прикарпаттяобленерго; servicing
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вська о́бласть, translit=Ivano-Frankivska oblast), also referred to as Ivano-Frankivshchyna ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вщина), is an administrative divisions of Ukrain ...
): 30 substations (7 110kv substations and 23 35kv substations) were switched off, and about 230,000 people were without electricity for a period from 1 to 6 hours.
At the same time, consumers of two other energy distribution companies, Chernivtsioblenergo ( uk, Чернівціобленерго; servicing
Chernivtsi Oblast) and Kyivoblenergo ( uk, Київобленерго; servicing