They said the strikes accelerated in late 2015, at the same time the Russian interference in the American election was underway. The attackers successfully compromised North American and European energy operators by spring 2017, after President Trump was inaugurated.
In the following months, according to a Department of Homeland Security report issued on Thursday, Russian hackers made their way to machines with access to critical control systems at unidentified power plants.
The Russian-backed hackers never went so far as to sabotage or shut down the computer systems that guide the operations of the plants. Still, new computer screenshots released by the Department of Homeland Security made clear that Russian state hackers had the foothold they would have needed to manipulate or shut down power plants.
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