North Korean Hackers Attacked Kudankulam Nuclear Plant, ISRO On Target Too: Reports

The sensational malware attack targeting the ‘master domain’ of the Kudankulam nuclear plant, which came out in public on October 28, was reportedly carried out by hackers based in North Korea. The ‘proof’ of the involvement of the North Korean hackers have been posted on social media by an intelligence group working in South Korea. Identifying itself as ‘Issue Makers Lab’, the non-profit organisation took to twitter to share the information about the malware attack on the Kudankulam plant. “North Korea's Kimsuky Group attempted to steal information on the latest design of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, an Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor that burns thorium into the fuel core. They attacked many Indian nuclear physicists,” the Issue Makers Lab tweeted.

Explaining the reason behind the cyber-attack, the Issue Makers Lab said that, “North Korea has been interested in the thorium based nuclear power, which to replace the uranium nuclear power. India is a leader in thorium nuclear power technology. Since last year, North Korean hackers have continuously attempted to attack to obtain that information.”

The South Korean intelligence group has been sharing critical information from its twitter handle. However, India has not officially reacted on the situation. Now, a report by The Indian Express said that not only Kudankulam, the ISRO was also on target. In fact, back in September, the space agency was also alerted about possible hacking.

The reports about hacking of Kudankulam servers surfaced on Twitter in last week of October. After vehement denials, India officially confirmed about the attack on October 30.

“Identification of malware in NPCIL system is correct. The matter was conveyed by CERt-In when it was noticed by them on September 4, 2019. The matter was immediately investigated by DAE specialist. the investigation revealed that the infected PC belonged to a user who was connected in the internet connected network used for administrative purposes. This is isolated from the critical internal network. The networks are being continuously monitored. Investigation also confirms that the plant systems are not affected,” the NPCIL statement said.