US states, leery of Russia malware, re-examine cybersecurity

Several states around the country on Saturday asked cybersecurity experts to re-examine state and utility networks after a Vermont utility’s laptop was found to contain malware U.S. officials say is linked to Russian hackers. The Burlington Electric Department, one of Vermont’s two largest electric utilities, confirmed Friday it had found on one of its laptops the malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name the U.S. government has given to malicious cyber activity by Russian civilian and military intelligence services.

The Latest: Vermont governor ‘outraged’ over utility malware

Vermont’s governor says he has been in touch with the federal government and the state’s utilities about the discovery on a utility laptop of a malware code used by Russian hackers. Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin says people should be “alarmed and outraged” Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been attempting to hack our electric grid.”