Texas Public Utility Commission Allegedly Hacked by Iran – Electric Choice

Breaking news on 1/28/20 | Published @ 7:38 AM Central

8:57 AM NEW UPDATE: PUCT’s website appears to have been restored.

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ORIGINAL POST:

As of 7:38 AM Central, the official Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) website is offline, apparently hacked and defaced by someone claiming to be associated with Iran. Instead of the usual website that greets visitors trying to visit puc.texas.gov, visitors are now greeted with a message that claims the website was hacked by an “Anonymous Iranian.”

Here’s a closer look at the text/message left on the homepage:

US government officials have repeatedly and recently warned that utilities in the United States could be targeted by Iran as part of a cyber warfare campaign. To be clear, as of now it’s unclear if this hacking was state-sponsored, a private individual operating in (and/or support of) Iran, or someone simply using the moniker “Anonymous Iranian.”

While a government website being hacked is obviously a serious concern and breach in security, at the moment there’s nothing to indicate that any other system belonging to the PUCT — such as the “the grid,” the often-referenced target by security experts — has been compromised.

We’ve yet to see a statement issued by the PUCT or government officials, but it’s safe to assume that a thorough investigation will take place to determine if any other information, systems, etc, were accessed.

This is breaking news. We’ll update this post with more information as it becomes available.