German Nuke Infected with Malware

December 16, 2021

INCIDENT

A nuclear power plant in Germany suffered from an infection of computer viruses, but they appear not to have posed a threat to the facility’s operations, the station’s operator said April 26.
The Gundremmingen plant, located about 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Munich, is run by the German utility RWE.
The viruses, which include W32.Ramnit and Conficker, ended up discovered at Gundremmingen’s B unit in a computer system retrofitted in 2008 with data visualization software associated with equipment for moving nuclear fuel rods, RWE said. The operating system ended up saved because it was not connected to the Internet.
Malware was also on 18 removable data drives, mainly USB sticks, in office computers maintained separately from the plant’s operating systems. RWE said it increased cyber security measures as a result.

Incident Date

April 26, 2016

Location

Germany

Estimated Cost


No cost values disclosed.

Type of Malware

Threat Source

No threat source identified