NEAR LADAKH, CHINA LAUNCHED A CYBER ATTACK ON THE POWER GRID. BETWEEN AUGUST AND MARCH

New Delhi, India: According to a report released on Wednesday by private intelligence firm Recorded Future, Chinese state-sponsored hackers targeted Indian electricity distribution centres near Ladakh over the last eight months, posing a new potential flashpoint following a protracted military standoff between the two countries in the region.

"In recent months, we've seen possible network breaches targeting at least seven Indian State Load Despatch Centres (SLDCs), which are responsible for real-time grid control and electricity dispatch inside their respective states." This targeting has been geographically concentrated, with the identified SLDCs located in North India, close to the disputed India-China border in Ladakh," according to the group.

According to sources, the attacks occurred between August and March of last year. According to them, the study discovered data flowing in and out of Indian Load Despatch Centres to Chinese state-sponsored command and control servers located all over the world.

"We found the breach of a national emergency response system and the Indian subsidiary of a multinational logistics company by the same threat activity group, in addition to the targeting of power grid assets," Recorded Future added.

Before publishing the paper, the group says they informed the government of their findings. A request for comment from the government has yet to be answered.

The Chinese attackers were attempting to obtain information regarding important infrastructure systems, according to the intelligence business, which is one of the world's largest and specialises in identifying risks from state-sponsored hackers.

"Given the continued targeting of State and Regional Load Despatch Centres in India over the last 18 months, first by RedEcho and now by this latest TAG-38 activity, this targeting is likely a long-term strategic priority for select Chinese state-sponsored threat actors operating within India," says the report "It was stated.

"The long-term targeting of Indian power grid assets by Chinese state-linked entities presents limited prospects for economic espionage or traditional intelligence gathering." We feel that this targeting is more likely to be used to gather information about critical infrastructure systems or to set the stage for future activity "It was also added.

"The goal of incursions could be to obtain a better knowledge of these complex systems in order to assist capability development for future use or to gain enough access across the system in preparation for future contingency operations," according to Recorded Future.

Around the world, high-profile cyber-attacks are on the rise. Last year, a ransomware attack on a major gas pipeline impacted millions of people on the east coast of the United States, while a significant part of Australia was on the verge of losing electricity after a crucial energy network was hit.

The company said it had reported the compromising of ten different Indian power sector organisations in February of last year, including four of the five Regional Load Despatch Centres (RLDC), two ports, a significant generator operator, and other operational assets.

"Recorded Future continues to track Chinese state-sponsored activity groups targeting a wide variety of sectors around the world... However, the coordinated effort to target Indian power grid assets in recent years is notably different from our perspective and, given the continued heightened tensions and border disputes between the two countries, we believe is a cause for concern," it said.

India and China have long fought over their broad 3,500-kilometer border, and in 1962, they fought a brief border war in Arunachal Pradesh.

Tensions rose in 2020 after a deadly high-altitude conflict in Ladakh's far-northern area, which saw troops fighting hand-to-hand in the contested Galwan Valley.

Multiple rounds of discussions have failed to de-escalate tensions since then, and both sides have bolstered the region with more military gear and hundreds of extra soldiers.

India declared last month that relations with China could not return to normal unless both countries' forces moved back from each other, but Beijing struck a more conciliatory tone during their foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi.