Romanian Electricity Distributor (Electrica) Is Under a Ransomware Attack
Published on December 10, 2024
- Electrica is one of Romania’s key electricity distributors, with 3.8 million customers.
- The company’s core infrastructure remains safe and not impacted by the attack.
- Romania has been recently a target of more than 85,000 cyber attacks.
One of Romania’s electricity distributors, Electrica Group, has disclosed an ongoing cyber-attack. Since 2014, the company has been double-listed on the Bucharest and London stock exchanges. We learned about the attack from a promptly published note to investors.
Electrica Group was established in 1998 as Romania’s National Electricity Company (CONEL) and became an independent business entity in 2000. It’s among the key players in Romania's electricity distribution and supply market, serving over 3.8 million customers across Transilvania and Muntenia.
As per the company’s statement, “teams of specialists are working closely with the national cybersecurity authorities to manage and resolve the incident.” Electrica’s core systems have not been affected, meaning that any disruptions are the result of the company’s temporary protective measures for internal infrastructure.
Even though Electrica’s statement does not mention a ransomware attack, Romania’s Ministry of Energy reveals the cyber-attack’s true nature. More precisely, the Ministry has announced that Electrica’s SCADA systems, used to control and monitor its distribution network, have not been impacted.
Romania’s Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said: “Initial investigations show that it was a ransomware attack. The network equipment has been removed and is not affected.” He added: “The SCADA systems of Distributie Electric Power Romania are fully functional and insulated, and our technical teams, together with our security partners, are already on the ground to eliminate any risk.”
This latest attack on Romania’s key infrastructure is just one of the several recent cyber attacks that have disrupted the country. A few days ago, Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) annulled the entire electoral process regarding the President of Romania following reports that a Russia-linked cyber operation affected the first round of elections.
Romania’s Intelligence Service (SRI) also discovered that over 85,000 cyber attacks targeted the country’s election infrastructure from November 19 to November 25, the night after the first presidential election round.
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