Forget sophisticated ransomware attacks that have shut down businesses, administrations, pipelines, and utilities in recent months. Now the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is saying a drone that crashed near a Pennsylvania power facility last year was probably on a kamikaze mission to cut electricity supplies.
According to media reports, an internal FBI memo describes the drone that crashed near the unidentified electricity substation in July, 2020 as the first case of a “modified unmanned aircraft system likely being used in the United States to specifically target energy infrastructure.” The assessment, based on reviews of incidents involving UAVs back to 2017, was first obtained by ABC and CNN.
The drone went down on the roof of a nearby building in the wider electricity facility. It was described in the memo as having been modified for what the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are viewing as a likely act of intended sabotage.
The…
