Cyberattacks on four of India's five load despatch units, Centre tells RS

This comes after a Chinese government affiliated hacker group, Red Echo, targeted Indian power grid earlier this year

Out of India’s five regional centres that help oversee the country’s critical electricity load management functions, four have faced cyberattacks in recent months, according to Union power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh’s written reply to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

“Some unsuccessful cyber attempts were reported from various agencies in the recent past. On receipt of such information, immediate measures are taken for isolation and other compliance measures by the respective organisation," Singh’s statement said, according to the Mint report.

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This comes after a Chinese government-affiliated hacker group, Red Echo, targeted Indian power grids earlier this year. Such cyber attacks have been made on India's transportation sector, too.

“For instance, cyber incidents have been reported at Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre (SRLDC), Western Regional Load Despatch Centre (WRLDC), Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC) and North Eastern Regional Load Despatch Centre (NERLDC) of Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO), NTPC Kudgi and Telangana State Transco. Necessary isolation and other protective measures have been taken by these organisations," Singh’s statement said.

"Necessary isolation and other protective measures have been taken by these organizations," it added.

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A New York Times article had previously claimed that a similar cyberattack by the Chinese hacker group had led to a power failure in Mumbai last year. However, the Union Power Ministry denied claims of cyber attacks linked to the Mumbai power failure.

“An incident of power outage occurred in Mumbai on October 12, 2020. As per the direction of the ministry of power, a panel was formed to conduct a fact-finding exercise on the cyber sabotage angle. As per the report of the committee, no conclusive evidence was observed to attribute the Mumbai grid incident of 12.10.2020 to a cyberattack," Singh’s response noted.

Taking steps to avoid cyber attacks in future, the ministry has set up six Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) for grid operation, thermal, hydropower, electricity distribution, transmission and renewable energy.