Hackers have had 79 serious hacking attacks on US energy companies in the last year that were investigated by the Computer Emergency Readiness Team, a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

This is better than the 145 incidents the previous year, but still a little worrying.  While the hackers never managed to switch the lights off, the energy companies’ outermost defences are not holding up. Between April 2013 and 2014, hackers managed to break into 37 per cent of energy companies, according to a survey by ThreatTrack Security.

Cybersecurity firm FireEye (FEYE) identified nearly 50 types of malware that specifically target energy companies in 2013, according to its annual report. Energy firms get hit with more spy malware than other industries.

In March, TrustedSec discovered spy malware in the software that a major US energy provider uses to operate dozens of turbines, controllers and other industrial machinery. It had been there for a year.

Russian malware called BlackEnergy had found its way onto the software that controls electrical turbines in the United States.