National laboratories investigate cyberattack
Richland’s facility was one of targets
YAKIMA – Officials at two national laboratories, and the private operator of one of them, were investigating a sophisticated cyberattack Wednesday that forced them to shut down computer network services for several days. It was the latest in a string of attacks on corporate and government entities.
Officials at the laboratories say no classified information was compromised.
Targeted in the attack were Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory in Newport News, Va., a basic physics research facility, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. The latter conducts scientific research, including nuclear science related to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Battelle Memorial Institute, which operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and partners with universities or other organizations to operate five other national laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy, also was targeted.
“We’re still investigating and looking into the incident, but there was no critical data lost,” said Katy Delaney, a Battelle spokeswoman.
Battelle officials shut down the company’s Internet as a protective measure against the attack Friday afternoon, Delaney said. Normal operations resumed by Tuesday morning.
Representatives at the two laboratories said they hoped to return to normal operations by the end of the week.
Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory does not conduct classified research, and there was no sign that anything was compromised, said spokeswoman Debbie Magaldi. The laboratory is operated by Jefferson Science Associates, a partnership of the Southeastern Universities Research Association and Computer Sciences Corp.
The same appeared to be true at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where services were being restored gradually, spokesman Greg Koller said.
“We want to make sure full access is only fully restored once we know the cause has been determined and the appropriate security is in place to prevent another incident,” he said.
In April, hackers forced Oak Ridge National Laboratory to shut down its website for a week. That same month, a federal report concluded that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory had failed to set up adequate cyber security controls for classified information, including details about the nation’s nuclear stockpile.
Battelle also is a partner in managing these two laboratories. Delaney said the laboratories all operate on separate networks and that its unknown if the Oak Ridge and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory attacks were connected.