Blackout conspiracy in Telangana, power department thwarts Chinese hackers' attempt

- Hackers try to hack Telangana's TS Transco and TS Genco power system

New delhi date. Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Amid reports of Chinese hackers being behind the blackout in Mumbai last year, Chinese hackers have tried to carry out blackouts in Telangana as well as Mumbai. However, an attempt by the Computer Emergency Response Team of India has thwarted this attempt by Chinese hackers. Hackers reportedly tried to hack Telangana's TS Transco and TS Genco power systems. Both are major power utilities in Telangana.

Investigations have revealed that Chinese hackers wanted to disrupt the power supply and steal data. Genco blocked suspicious IP addresses in view of this risk and changed the data of officials working in remote areas and users of the power grid.

According to a report, the Chinese hacker group has tried to target the computers of at least 12 organizations, primary power stations and load dispatch centers since mid-2020. Hackers have tried to send malware into these computers in order to disrupt services on a large scale.

Chinese hackers have so far attempted hacking at NTPC, 5 Regional Load Dispatch Centers and two ports, according to a study by Recorded Futures, a US company that monitors Internet usage. Such hacking activities had already started before the conflict between the Indian and Chinese armies at Ladakh in May 2020.