NEW DELHI – Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was alerted about asecurity breach at the same time (around September 4th) when the KudankulamNuclear Power plant was informed about a possible malware/virus attack,with some of its computers(used only for internet surfing purposes) beingaffected by it.
On the last week of October, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant located inTamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district has been in the news after social mediausers claimed that some of the facility’s systems were hit by a computervirus/malware. The Information Officer of the Kudankulam Nuclear PowerProject dismissed the news circulating on social media as ‘falseinformation’ in a press statement on October 29.
The press statement stated, “some false information is being propagated onthe social media platform electronic and print media with reference to thecyber attack on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
This is to clarify Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) and otherIndian Nuclear Power Plants Control Systems are stand alone and notconnected to outside cyber network and internet.”
“Any cyberattack on the Nuclear Power Plant Control System is not possible.Presently, KKNPP Unit -1 and 2 are operating at 1000MWe and 600MWerespectively without any operational or safety concerns,” it stated.
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However, on the very next day (October 30th), The Nuclear Power Corporationof India Limited (NPCIL) issues a press release stating that theidentification of malware in NPCIL system is correct.
“The matter was conveyed by CERT-In when it was noticed by them onSeptember 4, 2019. The matter was immediately investigated why DAEspecialists. The investigation revealed that the infected PC belonged to auser who was connected to the internet connected network used foradministrative purposes.
This is isolated from the critical internal network. The networks are beingcontinuously monitored. Investigation also confirms that the plant systemsare not affected,” the press release stated.
