Cyberattack on Kudankulam and ISRO

Indian authorities were informed of a possible cyberattack on September 4th, 2019. Over the past week, officials have publicly acknowledged that malware was indeed found on the administrative computer system at the nuclear plant. No critical damage was done, but plans for the plant may have been stolen in the attack. The second target for the attack was the Indian Space Research Organization, also hit with a malware known as Dtrack. ISRO was also not affected by the attack. India has been a major target for cyberattacks, with thousands of unique malware strains hitting various industries. The malware found on the Kudankulam system was apparently specifically designed to target the plant’s IT systems, which indicates that an internal breach has likely already occurred. This attack, and Indian officials’ statements about the attack, indicates a flaw in India cybersecurity policy. Indian officials apparently favored the “air gap strategy,” physically isolating computer networks and not connecting to external networks. As the Stuxnet attack in the 1990s proved, however, air-gapped systems are still vulnerable to targeted cyber attacks which can result in physical damage to infrastructure. This lag in cybersecurity development is symptomatic of a larger bureaucratic problem in India’s national security state. Namely, the long-standing lack of a functional national security bureaucratic state. The Doklam border standoff in 2017 and increased cyber attacks by Pakistan over the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir are the events that have prompted India to restructure its national security state. A specialized cybersecurity agency was established last year, and hopefully this recent cyberattack on Kudankulam will demonstrate the need for not just bureaucratic restructuring but capability updates as well. Malware was also found on the personal computer of an employee at another nuclear facility in southern India. As India seeks to limit China’s growth and influence in the region, cyber capabilities will become more and more crucial. China has already exhibited its willingness and capability to mess with Australia via cyber methods. India’s updated national security bureaucracy creates the space necessary for capacity-building, now it is up to India to build that capacity for cyber and information security.