As The Washington Post reports, a February intelligence assessment warned that a hacking group known as Zarya had received instructions from a “presumed” officer for Russia’s spy agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), “to maintain network access to Canadian gas infrastructure and wait for further instruction.”
The intelligence assessment continued: “The FSB officers anticipated a successful operation would cause an explosion at the gas distribution station… If Zarya succeeded, it would mark the first time the IC [intelligence community] has observed a pro-Russia hacking group execute a disruptive attack against Western industrial control systems.”
Such a dire prognosis may cause flashbacks to the 2021 Colonial Pipeline hack and concerns about Russia’s ability to strike at critical infrastructure. Not so fast, according to cybersecurity experts. Allan Liska, senior security architect at cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, told the Post that Zarya’s known cyberattacks have not risen above the “nuisance” level.
While the White House, National Security Council and Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the gas claims, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed that some of the documents “have been doctored.” (Many don’t seem to have been manipulated.)
Lesley Carhart, director of incident response for North America at the industrial cybersecurity company Dragos Inc., told the CBC that while threat actors breach industrial systems “all the time,” causing disruption or damage is a whole other matter. “There’s a big disconnect between gaining access to a computer, in the industrial world, and knowing how to make it do physical things,” Carhart said.
The leaked documents don’t say which company’s systems allegedly may have been compromised.
As CNN and The Wall Street Journal report, the Biden administration has been investigating—and trying to limit the blowback from—the appearance of the apparent cache of secret Pentagon files on social media. The document dump has unnerved allies and government officials alike.