Critical Infrastructure News
DOJ launches cyber unit with national security focus as China, Russia threats mount
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday a new unit within its National Security Division focused on pursuing cyber threats from nation-state and state-backed hackers, formalizing an increasingly significant part of the national security apparatus into the Justice Department’s hierarchy. In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen said the new unit would allow the…
Read MoreHungary arrests Norwegian plotting to ‘outdo’ Breivik mass killings
Hungarian authorities have arrested a 45-year-old Norwegian man suspected of plotting mass killings that were intended to eclipse a 2011 massacre by Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik, police said on Tuesday. Breivik killed 77 people in Norway’s worst peacetime atrocity in July 2011. He killed eight with a car bomb in Oslo and then…
Read MoreUS government agencies hit by cyberattack, official says
U.S. government networks were hit by a cyberattack affecting several federal agencies, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly confirmed on Thursday. CISA, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, previously identified a gap in software security believed to have been exploited in attack. An electronic file transfer application, MOVEit Transfer, is thought…
Read MoreMan charged with felonies after gunshots damage Idaho Power equipment in Hells Canyon area
After a late-night “coordinated effort” between law enforcement along the Idaho-Oregon border, a man suspected of shooting at power generating facilities in the Hells Canyon Corridor has been arrested and is facing felony charges in two counties. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office said officers arrested 58-year-old Randy Vail early Friday, and that officers had seized…
Read MoreInternal Blast Probably Breached Ukraine Dam, Experts Say (Cautiously)
A deliberate explosion inside the Kakhovka dam, on the front line of the war in Ukraine, most likely caused its collapse on Tuesday, according to engineering and munitions experts, who said that structural failure or an attack from outside the dam were possible but less plausible explanations. Ukrainian officials blamed Russia for the failure, noting…
Read MoreCalifornia Officials Investigating Loss of 30-Ton Shipment of Explosive Chemicals
Some 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used as both fertilizer and a component in explosives, went missing as it was shipped by rail from Wyoming to California last month, prompting four separate investigations. A railcar loaded with 30 tons of the chemical left Cheyenne, Wyoming, on April 12. The car was found to…
Read MoreDOE Announces $45 Million for Next-Generation Cyber Tools to Protect the Power Grid
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $45 million to create, accelerate, and test technology that will protect our electric grid from cyber-attacks to seamlessly help deploy clean and cheap energy to Americans. Cyber threats to American energy systems can shut down critical energy infrastructure and disrupt energy supply, the economy, and the health…
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