Congressman Frank Pallone Jr, who was recently sworn in for his seventeenth full term in the United States House of Representatives, on Monday, 1 March, asked the Biden administration to stand by India amid reports of Chinese cyber attack on India’s power-grid system.
Taking to Twitter, Congressman Pallone, who is also the Chairman of the Energy Commerce Committee, said:
“The US must stand by our strategic partner and condemn China’s dangerous cyber-attack on India’s grid, which forced hospitals to go on generators in the midst of a pandemic.”
He added: “We cannot allow China to dominate the region through force and intimidation.”
WHAT IS THE US STATE DEPARTMENT SAYING?
The State Department has reportedly told news agency PTI that they are aware of the said reports.
“For specifics, we refer you to the company that conducted the study. More broadly, however, the State Department works with partners around the world to respond to shared threats in cyberspace.”US State Department Spokesperson
The State Department also said that in general they continue to have concerns about “states' dangerous and coercive actions, including in cyberspace, and we reaffirm the importance of joint action on cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and supply chain security.”
THE STUDY
A new study suggests that the massive power outage that brought the metropolitan city of Mumbai to a grinding halt, in October 2020, may have been caused by China, amid clashes between the two countries.
The study, carried out by Recorded Future – an intelligence provider for enterprise security, says that the cyber-campaign was conducted by a China-linked group ‘RedEcho,’ causing Mumbai hospitals to switch to emergency back-up, trains to stop, and the stock market to shut down.
MEANWHILE, IN INDIA
The Maharashtra state government has taken cognisance of a media report pertaining to this study, and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has asked for a report from the cyber department on it.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Power on Monday claimed that there was no impact on operations of Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) caused by any malware attack. It also added that prompt actions were taken on advisories issued against such threats.
Even though the Ministry did not explicitly mention Mumbai in its statement, it did appear to be responding to the findings of the study.
WHAT ABOUT CHINA?
As per PTI, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday said it is “irresponsible and ill-intentioned” to make allegations without proof.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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