Claim by the New York Times Mumbai power grid failure may have been a Chinese cyber-attack

China’s message could be ‘if India pushed too hard, the light could go out’

• China tries to attack India through various ways. Is India ready to give fitting reply to such attacks ?
• India should verify the claim by the US newspaper and bring facts to the light.

Washington (USA) – In October last year, Mumbai and suburban areas had witnessed a power outage because of a grid failure bringing the city, including its local trains, to a complete halt. The power outage that occurred across Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai was suspected to be the result of a sophisticated sabotage attempt to target the country’s power utilities.

As fighting along the India-China border increased last year, malware started to to flow into the Indian electric grid and a blackout hit Mumbai, a new study shows. It now looks like a warning. https://t.co/rBBAaAVJdq

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 1, 2021

According to a New York Times report, China was responsible for the blackout in Mumbai on October 13 last year, as part of Beijing's cyber campaign against India's power grid.
The malware was injected during the India-China border standoff. @SaroyaHem has more details pic.twitter.com/ubgVgSKjTh

— WION (@WIONews) March 1, 2021

According to a report by ‘New York Times’, the power outrage in Mumbai and the surrounding areas last year may have been the handiwork of the Chinese, who wanted to launch a widespread cyber campaign against India’s power grid as to send a message that “if India pushed too hard, the light could go out”.

The Mumbai blackout had come just a few months after Chinese and Indian troops had clashed in Galwan Valley. The India China standoff had lasted months and had caused casualties on both sides.

The new research quoted by NYT showed that the two incidents might have been related as China may have played a role in Mumbai blackout by initiating a malware attack against the power grid. The research shows that as the stand-off continued between the two sides at the Himalayas, the Chinese had hacked the power grid’s control systems through malware.

The malware stream was summarised by Recorded Future in Somerville, Massachusetts, a company that studies the use of the internet by state actors. According to Recorded Future, most of the malware infused into the power grid was never activated. As Recorded Future was unable to enter the Indian power system, they could not look into the details of the code placed in strategic power distribution systems across the country. It has notified Indian authorities, but so far, they have not reported what they have found.

Stuart Solomon, the Chief Operating Officer of Recorded Future, said a Chinese national support group named Red Echo ‘systematically leverages advanced cyber intrusion technology to reach nearly 12 key nodes across India quietly. It was seen to build a foothold. Power and transmission infrastructure’.

On 12^nd October last year, Mumbai faced a massive power outage that lasted for a few hours starting from 10 a.m., however, the issue was resolved by noon.