Infowars investigation debunks false claims
The Post originally claimed that unidentified “code” linked to alleged Russian hackers had infiltrated the grid through a power company in Vermont.
Breaking: Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid through a utility in Vermont https://t.co/LED11lL7ej
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 31, 2016
The code was one of the Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) released by the FBI and DHS Thursday alongside President Obama’s Russian sanctions. Although the IOCs included common malware and widely used tor network IP addresses, network administrators were encouraged to examine their systems for evidence of malicious activity.
Infowars began investigating the report, conferring with members of the cybersecurity community, and quickly determined the claims to be false.
Alleged Russian hack of power grid was actually hack on utility company laptop with no access to the grid https://t.co/DzRavFdYBd pic.twitter.com/K1u4PEr2Dy
— Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) December 31, 2016
While Infowars and the Drudge Report, which carried Infowars’ breakdown, correctly reported the facts, countless other media outlets continued to parrot the false claim.
Although the damage had likely already been done, the Post eventually retracted all of its initial claims concerning the incident.
Washington Post issues a retraction of all its original claims regarding ‘power grid hack’ pic.twitter.com/35imGktn2r
— Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) December 31, 2016
The Department of Homeland security also followed suit Saturday by stating that no evidence supported the claim that the grid was breached.
NEW: Department of Homeland Security says in a statement that there’s no indication the power grid was penetrated in Vermont. From @KellyO
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) December 31, 2016
It wasn’t until New Years day that the majority of media outlets finally began to report that the story had in fact been incorrect.
