As the unit B of the Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant discovered Conficker and W32.Ramnit malware in a computer system which was retrofitted in 2008 with data visualization software associated with equipment for moving nuclear fuel rods. According to the reports, 18 removable data drives, mainly USB sticks, were infected by the malware in the office computers which was maintained separately from the plant’s operating systems. Hence, the energy group RWE said it had increased the cyber-security measures as a result. Malware W32.Ramnit steals files from the computers which spread through the removable USB data drives and targets Microsoft Windows computers while the other malware Conficker is a worm that can spread quickly through the networks, as in 2008 the malware Conficker has infected millions of Windows computers worldwide. The computer security expert and columnist Mikko Hypponen said that “recently I have spoken to a European aircraft maker that said it cleans the cockpits of its planes every week of malware designed for Android phones. The malware spread to the planes only because factory employees were charging their phones with the USB port in the cockpit”. The country’s Federal Office for Information Security BSI has been notified of the incident and working with the IT specialists at the group to look into the incident. However, the country’s Federal Office for Information Security BSI refuses to comment anything about the incident. Hence, the security measures have been increased after the malware was found in more than a dozen of USB sticks in some of the office computers which are not connected to the plant systems.
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