Four Regional Load Despatch Centres Faced Unsuccessful Cyber Attacks In Recent Past: Union Power Minister

In a significant development, the government has said that four out of India's five regional centres that help in overseeing the country's critical electricity load management functions had recently faced "unsuccessful" cyber attacks.

In a written reply to a query in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (20 July), Union Power Minister R K Singh stated that various agencies reported "some unsuccessful cyber attempts" in the recent past.

"Some unsuccessful cyber attempts were reported from various agencies in the recent past. On receipt of such information immediate measures are taken for isolation and other compliance measures by the respective organisation," Singh said.

"Cyber incidents have been reported at Southern Regional Load Despatch Center (SRLDC), Western Regional Load Despatch Center (WRLDC), Northern Regional Load Despatch Center (NRLDC) and North Eastern Regional Load Despatch Center (NERLDC) of Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO), NTPC Kudgi and Telangana State Transco," Singh said in the reply.

However, necessary isolation and other protective measures have been taken by these organizations, the minister added.

The development comes amid the backdrop of Red Echo, a hacker group affiliated with the Chinese government, targeting India’s power grid earlier this year.

State-run POSOCO oversees the grid through the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC), the five RLDCs and 34 state load despatch centres (SLDCs).

It should be noted that the grid is under constant attack, with at least 30 events reported daily, Livemint reported. Most pf the cyber attacks originate from China, Singapore, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.