The nuclear issue recurs cyclically in Italy. It happened in 2011, when it entered a series of abrogative referendums, and it has happened again in recent weeks with the (increasingly clear) positions of the Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani. In a meeting with high school students he said: «It is certain that nuclear will be part of the European taxonomy of sustainable finance, they have already anticipated it. It is a source that does not produce CO2 ». And so it is difficult to see the hacker attack as a coincidence December 12 by Sogin, the Nuclear Plant Management Company. Sogin is a public company, which deals with the dismantling of nuclear plants in Italy and the safety of radioactive waste. Its purpose is to deal with the reclamation of all operational sites in Italy when nuclear programs were still active.
In the last few hours, traces of this attack had already appeared on the web. As anticipated on the blog (in) digital security, ads had been posted on the dark web selling a folder from 800 Gb of data stolen from Sogin for 250 thousand dollars to be paid in cryptovalute. On paper, it’s a good deal – a huge amount of information for sale at a sub-market price. As usual, a sample available data. Among those we have seen are resumes, photos of employees, tables of expenses and partial maps of the plants. What is not known at the moment is whether this sample it refers to data actually in the possession of cybercriminals or documents that could already be found online.
Sogin’s confirmation: “The safety of our plants is guaranteed”
In the late afternoon today, 13 December, Sogin published a note in which he confirmed the attack: «Sogin reports that yesterday he had evidence of a hacker attack on his computer system. The Company immediately informed the competent Authorities with which the procedures were put in place to remedy the incident and verify any violation of profiles connected to privacy and data security “. At the moment, however, there is no information on the extent of this attack or its source. In any case, the company has ensured that the safety of the plants where the nuclear waste is kept is guaranteed: “Sogin represents that both nuclear and conventional safety of the plants and their operation has always been guaranteed”.
