India’s Power Grid Targeted By Suspected Chinese Hackers Near Ladakh: Report

Mumbai: Suspected China-backed hackers targeted India’s power sector in recent months under an apparent cyber-espionage campaign, as per US-based threat intelligence firm Recorded Future.

According to reports released on Wednesday, hackers have focused on Indian power dispatch centres near Ladakh, which could be a flashpoint after the military standoff between the two countries in the region.

Bloomberg cited reports that hackers targeted at least 7 Indian State Load Despatch Centers (SLDCs) responsible for conducting real-time operations for grid control and power dispatch in areas near the disputed India-China border in Ladakh.

“Prolonged targeting of Indian power grid assets by Chinese state-affiliated groups offers limited economic espionage or traditional intelligence gathering opportunities,” the Recorded Future report said.

“We believe that it is instead intended to enable the gathering of information about potentially critical infrastructure and/or pre-conditions for future activity,” it said.

Additionally, the hackers compromised an Indian national emergency response system and a subsidiary of a multinational logistics company, the report said.

“In addition to targeting power grid assets, we have tied up with a national emergency response system and an Indian subsidiary of a multinational logistics company by the same threat activity group,” it said.

Earlier in February 2021, a China-linked threat activity group, RedEcho, targeted one of the load dispatch centres.

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