Russian military hackers targeted Ukrainian power company, Ukrainian officials say

Sandworm, a Russian state-sponsored hacking group, attempted to infiltrate Ukrainian power substations of a private energy company to deploy malicious code capable of shutting off electricity to two million people, Ukrainian government officials and cyber researchers said Tuesday. 

The cyberattack, which Russia's military spy agency originally planned for Friday evening, appears to have fallen short of cutting off power. The Ukrainian government's computer emergency response team said it was able to stop the hackers from "carrying out [their] malicious intent."Top Ukrainian cyber official Victor Zhora said the attack was "effectively rebuffed."  

According to cyber researchers, the hacking group, which the Justice Department has previously linked to GRU Russian military intelligence, used damaging malware known as "Industroyer ICS," which is designed to disrupt civilian electrical supply by targeting high-voltage electrical substations, according to cybersecurity firm ESET.