States reexamine cybersecurity after Vermont utility reports alleged Russian malware

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Several states around the country on Saturday asked cybersecurity experts to re-examine state and utility networks after a Vermont utility’s laptop was found to contain malware U.S. officials say is linked to Russian hackers. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russian hacking units often use other people’s computer networks to “hide their malicious activity,” CBS News homeland security correspondent Jeff Pegues reports. Newly declassified documents show that U.S. investigators suspect that Russian intelligence services have access to compromised computer infrastructure in as many as 60 countries. The Burlington Electric Department, one of Vermont’s two largest electric utilities, confirmed Friday it had found on one of its laptops the malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name the U.S. government has given to malicious cyber activity by Russian civilian and military intelligence services.