The Department of Energy has been the victim of over 150 successful cyber attacks between 2010 and 2014, according to records released by USA Today.
The records, obtained using a Freedom of Information Act Request, shed light on the severity and frequency of attacks that could put critical information dealing with the nation’s power grid in jeopardy.
Between 2010 and 2014, there were a total of 1,131 attempted cyber attacks. Of those, 159 were successful.
USA Today reports:
The records, obtained by USA TODAY through the Freedom of Information Act, show DOE components reported a total of 1,131 cyber attacks over a 48-month period ending in October 2014. Of those attempted cyber intrusions, 159 were successful.
"The potential for an adversary to disrupt, shut down (power systems), or worse … is real here," said Scott White, Professor of Homeland Security and Security Management and Director of the Computing Security and Technology program at Drexel University. "It's absolutely real."
Energy Department officials would not say whether any sensitive data related to the operation and security of the nation's power grid or nuclear weapons stockpile was accessed or stolen in any of the attacks, or whether foreign governments are believed to have been involved.
"DOE does not comment on ongoing investigations or possible attributions of malicious activity," Energy Department spokesman Andrew Gumbiner said in a statement.
USA Today later notes that 90 of the 159 successful cyber attacks were in one way or another connected to the Energy Department’s Office of Science, which "directs scientific research and is responsible for 10 of the nation’s federal energy laboratories."