“There was a cyber attack on Kudankulam Nuclear Plant”

New Delhi: Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh has admitted in Lok Sabha about a cyber attack that happened on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (or Koodankulam NPP or KKNPP) is the largest nuclear power station in India being run under the aegis of Nuclear Power Corporation Of India (NPCIL). "There was an identification of a malware infection on the KKNPP administrative network used for day to day administrative activities. The affected system contains data related to an administrative function" Jitendra Singh told Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

"Plant control and instrumentation system are not connected to any external network such as Intranet, Internet and administrative system," the minister clarified further. The cyber attack on the nuclear power plant was identified in its internet-connected system that is an administrative area. The malware infection was not able to get access to the controls of the Nuclear Power Plant.

Later the investigations were carried out by the Computer & Information Security Advisory Group (CISAG) – DAE along with the national agency, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). The investigation concluded that the malware infection was limited to the administrative network of KKNPP. It was clarified after the investigation that KKNPP and the other nuclear power plants' control systems were 'standalone' and not connected to any cyber networks.