The American Public Power Association (APPA) wanted to make municipal electric utilities aware of an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal last week entitled “Russia Hacks Its Way Into U.S. Utilities” and provide you with basic information in case you receive any inquiries.

This story, which may be the first in a series, was prompted by a briefing by DHS a week ago providing more details on an issue that was first raised in 2017, when our federal government partners informed grid operators of a threat to the energy and manufacturing sectors. This incident did NOT have any operational impacts. The APPA continues to work across the sector and with our government partners to protect the grid from this threat as well as other cyber and physical threats.

In March 2018 when the U.S. government announced sanctions against Russian cyber actors, the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) provided detailed indicators of compromise to ensure electric utilities are prepared to protect their networks. Information sharing is a critical component of the strong industry/government partnership that exists through the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, and vital to protecting the grid.

The APPA and the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities encourage electric members to consider having someone from your utility participate in on one of the upcoming DHS Russian government cyber activity briefings detailed here:

https://www.us-cert.gov/ccubedvp/events.

Any questions may be directed to Russell Saffell, Director of Member Security & Critical Infrastructure Protection – rsaffell@iamu.org, 515.289.1999 (office) or 515.988.8686 (cell).