Additional info: This wasn't the first time
Nor the most serious...
The Russian BlackEnergy attack on Ukraine:
https://ics.sans.org/media/E-ISAC_SANS_Ukraine_DUC_5.pdf
And it was found in the US in 2014:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/18/technology/security/energy-grid-hack/
In March, TrustedSec discovered spy malware in the software that a major U.S. energy provider uses to operate dozens of turbines, controllers and other industrial machinery. It had been there for a year -- all because one employee clicked on a bad link in an email.
Related: U.S. weather system hacked, affecting satellites
And just last month, CERT revealed that a Russian malware called BlackEnergy had found its way onto the software that controls electrical turbines in the United States.
Investigators didn't see any attempts to damage or disrupt machines. But the malware gives hackers a backdoor to plant destructive code in the future.
So far, no computer virus has shut down any portion of the grid. But hackers are still breaking in, giving them the potential to flip switches off.
"Our grid is definitely vulnerable," said David Kennedy, TrustedSec's CEO. "The energy industry is pretty far behind most other industries when it comes to security best practices and maintaining systems."
So the idea that russians attempted to hack a power plant really isn't that surprising... the only thing surprising are those here that attempt to shield the russians from blame....