Owaisi weighs cyberattack on nuke plant against NRC; slams government

Asaduddin Owaisi raised security concerns over the country's nuclear assets after Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) admitted of a malware attack on one of the computers in the Kudankualm Nuclear Power Plant. The AIMIM chief further took a dig at "Chowkidar" for slashing "defense expenditure" and derided "Jr. Chowkidar" for considering undocumented Indians as the country's 'biggest threat,' referring to the contentious NRC.

Owaisi said, "An attack by known malware raises serious questions about the safety of our nuclear assets. We have a chowkidar who slashed defense expenditure and a Jr. Chowkidar who thinks our biggest threat is undocumented Indians. National security is more than just event management and make-believe"

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NPCIL confirms malware attack

On October 28 a cybersecurity researcher had raised an alert claiming that India's newest nuclear plant had been hacked. After initial denial, the report was confirmed by NPCIL in a press release, however, added that the plant systems were not affected. 

NPCIL Associate Director A. K. Nema stated, "Identification of malware in NPCIL system is correct. The matter was conveyed by CERT-In (India's national computer emergency response team) when it was noticed by them on September 4, 2019."

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The matter was investigated immediately by experts of the Department of Atomic Energy which revealed that the infected computer belonged to a user who was connected in the internet network used for administrative purposes. According to reports, the detected malware was created by North Korea state-sponsored hackers.

"This is isolated from the critical internal network. The networks are being continuously monitored. Investigations also confirm that the plant systems are not affected," the statement added.

On Tuesday, Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KKNPP) allayed fears of a cyber attack on its systems and said such attacks were not possible. KKNPP training superintendent and information officer R Ramdoss said reports in the social media about cyber attacks were false and clarified that KKNPP and the other nuclear power plants' control systems were 'standalone' and not connected to any cyber networks outside or the internet. The KKNPP is an Indo-Russian joint venture and Units I and II of 1000 MWe capacity each and they have commenced commercial operations while Units III and IV are under construction.

(With PTI inputs)

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