The U.S. Justice Department charged a neo-Nazi leader and an associate with plotting to attack Baltimore’s power grid on February 6. Brandon Russell, a founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, and Sarah Clendaniel from Maryland were arrested and charged with conspiring to damage an energy facility. Russell is a convicted felon and was previously sentenced to five years in prison.
An FBI confidential informant started receiving encrypted messages in June 2022 from a user encouraging the attack on electrical substations. The messages urged an attack “when there is greatest strain on the grid.” One of the users was traced back to Russell and the other to Clendaniel, who has a prior conviction for armed robbery. The FBI alleges the plot was racially motivated but did not provide details.
This event highlights the vulnerability of critical infrastructure, including power grids, which are crucial to the functioning of today’s digital world. If an attack on the power grid like this were successful, the damage would result in widespread outages that could last for days or weeks, potentially impacting businesses and consumers and their access to critical information.
Incidents like this remind us of the importance of protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring the continuity of operations through fault-tolerant data centers. Additionally, it highlights the need for effective threat intelligence and proactive measures to prevent malicious actors from targeting infrastructure and disrupting operations.
Given the importance of critical infrastructure to the functioning of data centers, it is imperative that businesses take proactive measures to protect their information.
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