We updated this story with absurd news from Le Monde: The French "hydroelectric dam" Cyber Army of Russia claimed it targeted was in fact a small water mill in a village of 300 people. More evidence this is likely not Sandworm proper, but a loosely linked junior varsity team.
We updated this story with absurd news from Le Monde: The French "hydroelectric dam" Cyber Army of Russia claimed it targeted was in fact a small water mill in a village of 300 people. More evidence this is likely not Sandworm proper, but a loosely linked junior varsity team.
Cyberattacking the right dam is hard, apparently. Back in 2013 Iranian hackers famously hacked the control systems for the 22-ft tall Bowman Dam in New York State, probably thinking they were attacking the 240-ft tall Bowman Dam in Oregon. newyorker.com/tech/annals-of…
Regardless of the end-state of the target, the likely objective was achieved. Hacktivism is often about highlighting intent and stirring up fear and day-to-day concerns instead of actual impactful attacks. The nuances with hacktivist groups is that they are about being loud, overt and a nuance largely more than having significant impact. So, regardless of actually impacting the target they claimed, the claim itself is enough of a win.
@a_greenberg Them having the fundamentals to do this is still a good measure of capability and absolutely worth tracking. Based on previous industrial hacking groups the time for them to go from this to next level really depends on the access they get, often practicing with Shodan etc
@a_greenberg (pic from @lemondefr - left is the propaganda video from Sandworm claiming destruction of the Courlon-sur-Yonne water dam; right is the small water mill that registered a 20-cm rise in its water level following the "attack")
@a_greenberg With the notable similarities in the names, I'm guessing Yandex search might have failed them 😉
@a_greenberg I'm picturing a little Game of Thrones village with chickens wandering around and a nice little inn.