REUTERS
The targeted company supplies to sewage stations across Ukraine liquid chlorine for water purification.
The SBU Security Service of Ukraine has blocked Russian special services' attempt to penetrate a computer network of a chlorine distribution plant located in the settlement of Auly, Dnipropetrovsk region.
The facility is part of the country's critical infrastructure, the SBU reported July 11.
"Specialists of the cybersecurity service established that within a few minutes the enterprise's process control system and that for detecting emergencies were deliberately struck from the Russian territory by a VPNFilter computer virus," the SBU wrote on Facebook.
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"The cyber attack could lead to a breakdown in technological processes and a possible accident. The aggressor intended to block sustainable operations at the station supplying to sewage stations across Ukraine liquid chlorine for water purification. In close cooperation with the company's top management, we managed to prevent a potential technogenic disaster," the agency said.
SBU experts jointly with the provider's staff and the station's personnel localized and neutralized the VPNFilter malware to prevent damage to other critical infrastructure information and telecommunications systems and to prevent possible catastrophic consequences.
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In May, the SBU already spotted signs that Russian intelligence agencies had been plotting cyber attacks on Ukraine's public and private sector facilities using VPNFilter.
VPNFilter is a multi-level modular malware with versatile capabilities that support both cyber intelligence –related and destructive cyber attacks. It is designed to infect routers and certain network attached storage devices. It can steal data, contains a "kill switch" designed to disable the infected router on command, and is able to persist should the user reboot the router. The FBI believes that it was created by the Russian Fancy Bear group.