Russian hacker is set to face trial for the hack of a local power grid

A Russian national (49) was charged with a cyberattack on a local power plant that caused a widespread blackout.

The news agency TASS reported that a Russian national (49) is set to face trial on charges of carrying out a cyberattack on a local power plant that left 38 villages in the Vologda region in the dark.

The attack took place one year ago, the man faces up to eight years in prison.

“The criminal investigation has been completed against a hacker who cut off power to 38 settlements in the Vologda region. The Russian FSB Directorate for the Vologda Region established that in February 2023, a resident of the region born in 1975 gained unlawful access to technological control systems for power grids and cut off power to 38 settlements Vologda region in the Sheksninsky district, Ustyuzhensky and Babayevsky districts,” the press service of the Russian FSB department for the Vologda region told TASS.

TASS reported that the Russian authorities have opened a criminal case was opened into the incident under Part 4 of Article 274.1 of the local Criminal Code. 

The local authorities have completed the investigation and sent the evidence to the court for a final judgment. 

The suspect is currently obligated to remain at the specified location, as stated by the FSB Directorate to TASS.

It is unclear if the defendant was a member of a hacker group or if the attack was an act of hacktivism against the Russian government for its invasion of Ukraine.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, power plant)