Vermont aliens

Russian hackers entered the Burlington Electric electric power company in Vermont. It is reported by The Washington Post with reference to American officials.

The attack did not cause concrete harm. However, the interlocutors of the publication suggest that the true goal was to test the capabilities of hackers to penetrate the critical infrastructure of the United States.

The US intelligence services provided the largest US energy companies with codes that were used by Russian hackers for attacks on political institutions of the United States. Burlington Electric identified in one of the computers a code that was used by the hacker group Grizzly STEPPE.

According to the company, the malware was found in a laptop that was not connected to the Burlington Electric network. The company took urgent measures to isolate the laptop, and notified the federal authorities.

The state governor Vermont Peter Shumlin called on federal officials "to conduct a full and comprehensive investigation of this incident" and take measures to guarantee the invention of such a situation in the future.

"Vermontians and all Americans must be at the same time alarmed and outraged by the fact that one of the leading world thugs Vladimir Putin makes attempts to hack our electrical network, which we rely on maintaining our quality of life, economics, health and security," the statement says. "This episode must emphasize the urgent need to continue energetic actions and put an end to such kind of Russian interventions."

On October 7, the American authorities first directly accused Moscow of holding a large -scale campaign in order to influence the 2016 elections, including by hacker attacks on computers of the National Committee of the Democratic Party and other political figures.

On Thursday, the US State Department announced the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the country and the closure of two “embassy cottages” in New York and Maryland. In addition, the US Treasury imposed sanctions against GRU, the FSB of three of his deputies and two Russian hackers. GRU, FSB and three companies specializing in computer safety also fell under restrictive measures. It was noted that these actions were taken "within the framework of complex measures in response to Russia's intervention in the elections in the United States and in connection with the persecution of our diplomats abroad."

Putin regarded the new American sanctions as "provocative, aimed at the further undermining of Russian-American relations." However, Putin said that Russia will not fall to the level of "kitchen" diplomacy and take response measures in the form of expulsion of the US Embassy and restricting their access places. According to Putin, Moscow hopes for a change in the situation after the inauguration of the elected president Donald Trump. The latter approved the decision of the Russian president.