Golden Griddle

Those nasty Russians hacked the U.S. power grid! I read it various places yesterday. Maybe not:

Computer code connected to Russian cyberattacks by U.S. intelligence agencies has been found hidden in a laptop at a Vermont public utility, a development that emerged a day after the Obama administration hit Russia with sanctions for hacking in this year’s U.S. election.

The laptop wasn’t connected to the power grid at the time, the Burlington Electric Department said in a statement Friday. It said it scanned its computer network and found the malware after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent out an alert about the code to owners and operators of critical infrastructure.

“We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding,” utility spokesman Mike Kanarick said in the statement. “Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems. We have briefed state officials and will support the investigation fully.”

A laptop not connected to the grid is not a hack, any more than an attack on the DNC is an attack on the election. There are bad guys everywhere on the web. There's a decent chance you have some nasty Russian code on your computer, too. But are you in danger? I think you know the answer.