Telvent, which is owned by Schneider Electric, told customers in a letter that on Sept. 10 it learned of the breach into its network. The attackers installed malicious software on the network and also accessed project files for its OASyS SCADA system, according to KrebsOnSecurity, which first reported the breach.

According to Telvent, its OASyS DNA system is designed to integrate a utility’s corporate network with the network of control systems that manage the distribution of electricity and to allow legacy systems and applications to communicate with new smart grid technologies.

Telvent calls OASyS “the hub of a real-time telemetry and control network for the utility grid,” and says on its website that the system “plays a central role in Smart Grid self-healing network architecture and improves overall grid safety and security.”

But according to Dale Peterson, founder and CEO of Digital Bond, a security firm that specializes in industrial control system security, the OASyS DNA system is also heavily used in oil and gas pipeline systems in North America, as well as in some water system networks.