Russians breach Vermont utility

Russian hackers tied to recent cyberattacks on U.S. political organizations breached a Vermont utility, the Washington Post reported Friday.

A code associated with the Russian hacking operation aimed at the U.S. presidential election, which the intelligence community has named “Grizzly Steppe,” was detected within the Vermont system.  

The Russians did not disrupt electrical operations, officials told the Post. 

According to the Burlington Free Press, the city-owned Burlington Electric was the target of the hack. 

{mosads}Vermont Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia said malware was discovered on a laptop that was not connected to the grid’s operations. 

“The grid is not in danger,” Recchia said. “The utility flagged it, saw it, notified appropriate parties and isolated that one laptop with that malware on it.”

Federal officials shared the Grizzly Steppe malware code with utility executives nationwide, and it was identified within the Vermont operation.

The Russians have previously been accused of international cyberattacks on electrical grids, the Post reported, including in Ukraine. 

President Obama announced punitive measures against Russia in response to Russian meddling in the election Thursday, and the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security released a report detailing how Russian intelligence breached American organizations. 

Updated at 10:40 p.m.