India thwarted 2 lakh cyberattacks on Power Grid in 10 days during ‘Operation Sindoor’: Union Power Minister

Srinagar, Jun 12: India successfully foiled nearly two lakh cyberat- tack attempts on its power infrastructure over the span of just eight to ten days during the Operation Sindoor, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar revealed on Thursday.

Speaking to mediapersons here, Khattar said that the growing threat of cyberattacks in the digital era, particularly target- ing critical infrastructure like power grids, trans- portation networks, and communication systems. “With the advancement in technology, new dan- gers have emerged in the form of cyberattacks and cybercrimes. However, the government has taken swift and significant steps, and our cybersecurity sys- tems have proven their strength,” the Union Minister said. Khattar assured that despite the scale of the attempted intrusions estimated at around 200,000 in number—not a single breach or operation- al disruption occurred.

“There have been many cyberattacks on the country, especially targeting the power department. Our cyber team successfully neutralized all of them. There were no losses, no data breaches, and no system failures,” he added.

The attempted attacks included malware injec- tions, phishing attempts, DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) assaults, and unauthorized access attempts to supervisory control and data acquisi- tion (SCADA) systems. These systems are crucial for monitoring and control- ling industrial operations, making them prime targets for hostile actors.

When asked about the source of the cyberattacks, Khattar explained that tracing the origin of such intrusions is complex, as they can be launched from “any corner of the world.” While the minister did not name any specific country, intelligence sources suggest that foreign state-sponsored entities and non-state actors with anti-India agendas may have been involved. “It is known the world over that those against us will attempt such things. But our focus remains on building resilient sys- tems.

Our infrastructure is capable of defending itself now and will be even more robust in the future,” Khattar said. He added confidently, “When some- one fails the first time, then a second time, they ultimately get discouraged and stop. That’s what we are aiming for.”