Burlington Electric, which is municipally owned, said it detected the malware in a laptop not connected to its grid systems. It said it took ‘‘immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials.’’

The Burlington Electric Department said U.S. utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday of a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name Homeland Security has applied to a Russian campaign linked to recent hacks.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A state electric utility confirmed on Friday it had found on one of its laptops a malware code the U.S. government says is used by Russian hackers.

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‘‘Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems,’’ it said in an emailed statement.

It said it had briefed state officials and would fully support an investigation into the potential Russian hack. Russia, which has been accused of interfering in the U.S. presidential election by hacking American political sites and email accounts, has denied hacking U.S. systems.

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin said his administration had been in touch with the federal government and the state’s utilities.

‘‘Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world’s leading thugs, (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality-of-life, economy, health, and safety,’’ he said in a statement.

He said the hacking episode should highlight the urgent need for the federal government to ‘‘vigorously pursue and put an end to this sort of Russian meddling.’’

Burlington Electric, which says it’s ‘‘at the forefront of the green energy revolution,’’ is one of the state’s two largest electric utilities. The other, Colchester-based Green Mountain Power, said its systems were secure.

‘‘Our teams have done a complete systems check and found no security concerns,’’ it said.

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Green Mountain Power, which serves about 265,000 residential and business customers, said it recently was thoroughly reviewed for safety by Homeland Security. It said it would continue to rigorously monitor its systems and ‘‘remain vigilant.’’

Update: As federal officials investigate suspicious Internet activity found on a Vermont utility computer, they are finding evidence that the incident is not linked to any Russian government effort to target or hack the utility.</s>A code associated with a broad Russian hacking campaign dubbed Grizzly Steppe by the Obama administration has been detected on a laptop associated with a Vermont electric utility but not connected to the grid, the utility said on Friday.</s>A code associated with a broad Russian hacking campaign dubbed Grizzly Steppe by the Obama administration has been detected on a laptop associated with a Vermont electric utility but not connected to the grid, the utility said on Friday.

“We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding,” the Burlington Electric Department said in a statement.

“Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems. We have briefed state officials and will support the investigation fully.”

The Department of Homeland Security alerted utilities on Thursday night about a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the Burlington Electric Department said.

“We acted quickly to scan all computers in our system for the malware signature. We detected the malware in a single Burlington Electric Department laptop not connected to our organization’s grid systems,” it said.

The matched malware code on the laptop may have resulted from a relatively benign episode, such as visiting a questionable website, a source familiar with the matter said, suggesting Russian hackers may not have been directly involved.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking U.S. political groups in the 2016 presidential election.

The statement came after a Washington Post report that Russian hackers penetrated a Vermont utility. Government and utility industry officials regularly monitor the nation’s electrical grid because it is highly computerized and any disruptions can have disastrous implications for the functioning of medical and emergency services, the Post said.

A senior Obama administration official said the administration had sought in its sanctions announcement on Thursday to alert “all network defenders” in the United States so they could “defend against Russian malicious cyber activity.”

“This intrusion by itself was a minor incident that caused no damage,” a U.S. intelligence official familiar with the incident and critical of Russian actions said on Friday night.

“However, we are taking it seriously because it has been tracked to familiar entities involved in a much broader and government-directed campaign in cyberspace and because the electric grid is a vulnerable and interconnected part of the nation’s critical infrastructure,” the official said.

Russia is widely considered responsible by U.S. officials and private-sector security experts for a December 2015 hack of Ukraine’s power grid that knocked out the lights for about 250,000 people. That hack prompted National Security Agency chief Mike Rogers to say at a conference in March that it was a “matter of when, not if” a cyber adversary carried out a similar attack against the United States.</s>The hacking code detected at a Vermont utility was found on a single laptop that was not connected to the grid systems.

'We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding,' the Burlington Electric Department said in a statement on Friday.

The code was not used to disrupt the utility operations and a source familiar with the matter said the malware could have been the result of visiting a questionable website, suggesting Russian hackers may not have been directly involved at all.

The code was believed to be linked to a wider Russian hacking operation dubbed 'Grizzly Steppe' by the Obama administration.

But the Russians did not actively use the code to disrupt operations of the utility, unnamed officials told theWashington Post.

Burlinton Electric issued a statement on Friday that read: 'Last night, U.S. utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe...

'We detected the malware in a single Burlington Electric Department laptop not connected to our organization’s grid systems.

'We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding.

'Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems. We have briefed state officials and will support the investigation fully.'

The matched malware code on the laptop may have resulted from something as benign as visiting a questionable website, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Regardless, the incident revealed a potentially serious vulnerability since the nation's electrical grid is highly computerized and any disruptions can have disastrous implications for the functioning of medical and emergency services, according to the Post.

Federal officials have shared the malware code used in Grizzly Steppe with utility executives nationwide, a senior administration official said, and Vermont utility officials identified it within their operations, the newspaper reported.

The attack may have been designed to disrupt the utility's operations or as a test by the Russians to see whether they could penetrate a portion of the grid.

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Green Mountain Power and Burlington Electric did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It comes after President Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking U.S. political groups in the 2016 presidential election.</s>A laptop associated with a Vermont electric agency, the Burlington Electric Department, was found on Friday to contain code linked to a Russian hacking campaign known as Grizzly Steppe. The laptop, which was not connected to the electric grid, was immediately isolated and the rest of the department's computers placed under investigation.

"Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems," Mike Kanarick, a representative of the utility, said in a statement. "We have briefed state officials and will support the investigation fully."

The goal of Grizzly Steppe remains undetermined, and the laptop may have become infected without any Russian action, e.g. by contact with an untrustworthy website. "This intrusion by itself was a minor incident that caused no damage," an unnamed senior intelligence official told Reuters. Bonnie Kristian</s>Russian hackers breached the computer system of a US electric company, though no actions to actively harm its functions have been found, officials said Friday.

The Burlington Electric Department in Vermont found malware code from the Russian hacking operation known as Grizzly Steppe on a laptop after receiving an alert from the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, a utility spokesman said. The laptop played no role in operating the electric grid and has since been isolated.



“We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding,” spokesman Mike Kanarick said in a statement. “Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems.”

Citing an unnamed US official, the Washington Post first reported that the Russian hackers’ code was found within the computer system of a utility company in Vermont. US intelligence has attributed Grizzly Steppe to Russian military and civilian hackers, who officials say targeted the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta ahead of the US election.



The team of hackers was also responsible for cyberattacks on utility grids that caused unprecedented blackouts in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported.



The White House this week levied new sanctions on Russian intelligence services in response to the pre-election hacks. Additionally, 35 Russian intelligence operatives and their families are being expelled.

Since identifying the hacking operation, US officials have shared its code with utility companies around the country. So far, the code has only been found within the system of a Vermont utility — a potentially serious vulnerability that could allow attacks on critical infrastructure, the Post reported.

The breach did not put the local electric grid in any danger, Vermont Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia told the Burlington Free Press.



“The grid is not in danger,” Recchia said. “The utility flagged it, saw it, notified appropriate parties and isolated that one laptop with that malware on it.”



BuzzFeed News has reached out for more information.

What the hackers intended to do by breaching the utility is unknown. Officials told the Post it may have been a test, or hackers may have intended to try to disrupt the electricity grid at a later time.</s>BURLINGTON, VT — The malicious software linked to a Russian hacking group associated with attempts to influence the U.S. presidential election has been found within a computer belonging to Burlington Electric, one of Vermont’s electrical utilities.

The utility found the malware on a laptop that is not connected to the operation of the grid, Vermont Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia said.

Based on his knowledge, Recchia said Friday night he did not believe the electrical power grid was at risk from the incident.

"The grid is not in danger," Recchia said. "The utility flagged it, saw it, notified appropriate parties and isolated that one laptop with that malware on it."

The Obama administration released code associated with the Russian hacking group, dubbed Grizzly Steppe, on Thursday.

The aim of the release was to allow utilities, companies and organizations to search their computers for the digital signatures of the attack code, to see if they, too, had been targeted.

That proved to be a good strategy, with the announcement Friday evening that the code had been found in Vermont. It is unclear if the penetration was an attempt to disrupt the utility or simply a test.

"We acted quickly to scan all computers in our system for the malware signature. We detected the malware in a single Burlington Electric Department laptop not connected to our organization’s grid systems. We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding," said Mike Kanarick, spokesman for Burlington Electric Department, in a statement.

The utility is working with federal officials to trace the malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems. It has also briefed state officials.

"As commissioner of public service we are very concerned about cybersecurity," Recchia said. "I've been working with homeland security and our department of emergency management, homeland security to make sure that we are on top of things like this because this is a real concern."

April McCullum reports for The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press; Elizabeth Weise reports for USA TODAY from San Francisco.</s>A Vermont public electric utility company said it detected on one of its laptops malware that the U.S. government has linked to Russian hackers.

The Burlington Electric Department said the discovery came after utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday night to a code used in the alleged Russian hacking campaign U.S. authorities have dubbed Grizzly Steppe.</s>(BURLINGTON, Vt.) — Malware code linked to Russian hackers and found on a Vermont electric utility’s computer is further evidence of “predatory” steps taken by that country against the U.S., a Vermont Democratic congressman said Saturday.

The Burlington Electric Department confirmed Friday it had found on one of its laptops the malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name Homeland Security has applied to a Russian campaign linked to recent hacks. The company said U.S. utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday of the code.

“This attack shows how rampant Russian hacking is. It’s systemic, relentless, predatory,” Rep. Peter Welch said in a statement. “They will hack everywhere, even Vermont, in pursuit of opportunities to disrupt our country.”



Welch said the breach also underscores that sanctions President Barack Obama took against Russia this week were warranted. Russia, which has denied hacking U.S. systems, has been accused of interference in the U.S. presidential election by hacking American political sites and email accounts.

Sen. Patrick Leahy said the latest discovery of the malware “goes beyond hackers having electronic joy rides.” It is the latest example that state-sponsored Russian hacking is a serious threat, the Vermont Democrat said in a statement Friday.

The Washington Post first reported on the Vermont utility’s discovery of the malware. Burlington Electric, which is municipally owned, confirmed in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that it detected the malware in a laptop not connected to its grid systems. It said it took “immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials.”

“Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems,” the company said.

It said it had briefed state officials and would fully support an investigation into the potential Russian hack.

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin said his administration has been in touch with the federal government and the state’s utilities.

“Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world’s leading thugs, (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality-of-life, economy, health, and safety,” the governor said in a statement.

He said the hacking episode should highlight the urgent need for the federal government to “vigorously pursue and put an end to this sort of Russian meddling.”

Burlington Electric, which says it’s “at the forefront of the green energy revolution,” is one of the state’s two largest electric utilities. The other, Colchester-based Green Mountain Power, said its systems were secure.

Green Mountain Power, which serves about 265,000 residential and business customers, said it was thoroughly reviewed recently for safety by Homeland Security. It said it would continue to rigorously monitor its systems and “remain vigilant.”</s>The Latest on a malware code found on a Vermont electric utility's laptop (all times local):

Vermont's governor says he has been in touch with the federal government and the state's utilities about the discovery on a utility laptop of a malware code used by Russian hackers.

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin says people should be "alarmed and outraged" Russian President Vladimir Putin "has been attempting to hack our electric grid."

The Burlington Electric Department says it detected the malware in a laptop not connected to its grid systems. It says it took "immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials."

The governor says the episode should highlight the urgent need for the federal government to "put an end" to "Russian meddling."

Colchester-based utility Green Mountain Power said Friday a complete check of its systems has found "no security concerns."

Russia also has been accused of interfering in the U.S. presidential election. It has denied hacking U.S. systems.

A Vermont electric utility has confirmed it found on one of its laptops a malware code the U.S. government says is used by Russian hackers.

The Burlington Electric Department says U.S. utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security of a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name Homeland Security has applied to a Russian campaign linked to recent hacks.

Burlington Electric says it detected the malware in a laptop not connected to its grid systems. It says it took "immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials."

The utility says its team is working with federal officials to trace the malware and prevent other attempts to infiltrate utility systems.

Colchester-based electric company Green Mountain Power says its systems are secure. It said Friday a complete systems check found "no security concerns."

Vermont electric company Green Mountain Power says it was not the utility that reported a possible Russian hack into its systems and its systems are secure.

A Washington Post story based on anonymous U.S. officials says a code associated with a Russian hacking operation was detected within the system of a Vermont utility but wasn't actively used to disrupt operations. It says the breach "represents a potentially serious vulnerability." It says it's unclear which utility reported the breach but there are only two major utilities in the state: Green Mountain Power and Burlington Electric.

Colchester-based Green Mountain Power said Friday it "did not self-report a security incident." It says a complete systems check has found "no security concerns."

The Burlington Electric Department hasn't responded to email and phone messages seeking comment.
The U.S. Burlington Electric Department says that a code associated with a broad Russian hacking campaign dubbed "Grizzly Steppe" by the U.S. Government has been detected on a laptop associated with a Vermont electric utility but not connected to the grid.