The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) issues a press release stating that the identification of malware in NPCIL system is correct
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was alerted about a security breach at the same time (around September 4th) when the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant was informed about a possible malware/virus attack, with some of its computers(used only for internet surfing purposes) being affected by it.
On the last week of October, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant located in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district has been in the news after social media users claimed that some of the facility’s systems were hit by a computer virus/malware. The Information Officer of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project dismissed the news circulating on social media as 'false information' in a press statement on October 29.
The press statement stated, “some false information is being propagated on the social media platform electronic and print media with reference to the cyber attack on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. This is to clarify Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) and other Indian Nuclear Power Plants Control Systems are stand alone and not connected 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 600MWe respectively without any operational or safety concerns," it stated.
However, on the very next day (October 30th), The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) issues a press release stating that the identification of malware in NPCIL system is correct.
“The matter was conveyed by CERT-In when it was noticed by them on September 4, 2019. The matter was immediately investigated why DAE specialists. The investigation revealed that the infected PC belonged to a user who was connected to the internet connected network used for administrative purposes. This is isolated from the critical internal network. The networks are being continuously monitored. Investigation also confirms that the plant systems are not affected,” the press release stated.
While there is no official statement from ISRO, WION has learnt that few ISRO PCs which were connected to the internet (for only browsing) while being completely isolated from the internal network were only affected. ISRO had taken appropriate action and has been monitoring on a regular basis.
It is also understood that such virus attacks and malware attacks keep happening on all systems that are connected to the internet for web surfing and that cyber security experts are constantly maintaining a vigil.
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