Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 03/20/2010 2:33:47 PM PDT by neverdem
It came as a surprise this month to Wang Jianwei, a graduate engineering student in Liaoning, China, that he had been described as a potential cyberwarrior before the United States Congress.
Larry M. Wortzel, a military strategist and China specialist, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 1o that it should be concerned because “Chinese researchers at the Institute of Systems Engineering of Dalian University of Technology published a paper on how to attack a small U.S. power grid sub-network in a way that would cause a cascading failure of the entire U.S.”
When reached by telephone, Mr. Wang said he and his professor had indeed published “Cascade-Based Attack Vulnerability on the U.S. Power Grid” in an international journal called Safety Science last spring. But Mr. Wang said he had simply been trying to find ways to enhance the stability of power grids by exploring potential vulnerabilities.
“We usually say ‘attack’ so you can see what would happen,” he said. “My emphasis is on how you can protect this. My goal is to find a solution to make the network safer and better protected.” And independent American scientists who read his paper said it was true: Mr. Wang’s work was a conventional technical exercise that in no way could be used to take down a power grid.
The difference between Mr. Wang’s explanation and Mr. Wortzel’s conclusion is of more than academic interest. It shows that in an atmosphere already charged with hostility between the United States and China over cybersecurity issues, including large-scale attacks on computer networks, even a misunderstanding has the potential to escalate tension and set off an overreaction.
“Already people are interpreting this as demonstrating some kind of interest that China would have in disrupting the U.S. power grid,” said Nart Villeneuve, a researcher with...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Gee, will it cut the power to all of our silos and nukular subs?
This is China’s way of telling us not to default on our debt?
Just have Microslob publish false information about our power grid in efforts to confuse potential enemies. It works so well to secure their software from attacks.
We could also abolish what little is left of manufacturing in the USA (machines for shaping fast food items, for example) in efforts to bring down the Chinese economy. Oh...we’ve reportedly already been successfully doing that for over two years. Never mind.
The alternative is to have Apple supply all the grid management software. Of course, to get that software, you also have to buy the entire grid from Apple.
Ha ha! Hilarious!
I'm glad Apple's prices are so low /sarcasm of course
Apple, Microsoft...same thing. Linux is heading that way, too. ;-) I like NetBSD (business friendly license, no liberal politics required, most stable and secure).
Our critical infrastructure should definitely rely on a network that has secure access points..
Trust me, as someone who worked on the power grid control systems — we need all the Wang Jianwei’s we can get. His is a form of contingency analysis, after all.
To a dedicated attacker, circa 20 years ago, the system was very vulnerable of a cheap but carefully executed attack. Some systems have improved, but ...
All you power grid are belong to us...
This is good news.
These things used to be highly classified military secrets that we could learn of only from defectors.
Every actual and hypothetical cyberattack that does not kill us makes us stronger.
huh, you mean that tidbit didnt go with the Loral Missle tech from the Clintons to Chi-coms in the 80’s in exchange for the campaign money?..........I’m shocked
Well, I’m sure some Enviro./ Warmer would be glad to hand over the electronic porthole to our grid system...
all in the name of reducing the “footprint”
6 guys with high powered rifles could take out the grid for half the eastern seaboard.
The great thing about having half of the United States owned by China is that it makes the idea of attacking us much less appealing.
They need to be watched.
An independent American who reads the NY Times, says this is a photo of one of the Time's "independant American scientist:"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.