We need to thank Sony and North Korea. Sony unintentionally goaded NK into revealing a lot of its cards, (assuming it was primarily NK). If not for this flap, we would still be asleep at the switch, at least at the national level. Many have been warning about a cyber-grid attack for years, but now it’s a leading story and everybody is paying attention.
The power grid is our exposed national jugular vein. Computer networks and data systems have become the spinal cord and nervous system that controls the power grid. Think of the human muscle/skeletal system. Sabotaging the spinal cord/nervous system renders the muscles (our power grid) useless.
It my understanding that in many cases our grids are managed by antique 1980s legacy programs. Once hacked, our grid-controlling programs can be spoofed or made to destroy destroy themselves. Keep in mind this can also be very subtle and hard to detect, witness the Stuxnet Virus inserted into Iran’s “super-secure” nuclear program. Stuxnet introduced tiny almost unrecognizable wobbles into their centrifuges, so that they would be destroyed before the damage was discovered. You could even say that we fired the first cyber strike with Stuxnet, even if it was for a worthy cause.
All developed countries are extremely vulnerable to grid disruptions. If American cities are cut off from electricity for even a few weeks, they will explode at the social level, as tens of millions of people who are accustomed to “automatic” money showing up on EBT cards are left with no means to pay for food. This will lead to massive looting, and a cascade to mega-riots and anarchy. There will be many other dire consequences: people freezing in winter for example, but the lack of food deliveries and distribution will bite first and hardest.
The Sony-NK flap may even be revealing the existence of a new “MAD Doctrine” at the cyber level. No nation can be sure that its computer networks and critical infrastructure are safe from attack. The next “Pearl Harbor” might be an attack on our grid. And it might go on and on for weeks, as systems are restored and are hacked again. And grid-down for weeks may be enough to destroy America as we know it.
It’s imperative that we not only harden our computer infrastructure, but that we strive to achieve a dispersed grid structure that will not be as susceptible to a cascading grid failure. Where possible a “manual override option” must be put in place. Imagine a jetliner that flies only on autopilot, directed only by computer controls. What happens if the computer is hacked and the plane is commanded to dive and crash? That could be America, commanded to dive and crash.
Our grid needs a “manual override” option, and we need to get this running and begin testing it ASAP. Anybody who says “That can’t be done, our grid can only be operated by computers today,” is admitting that we are screwed.
......the grid is valid threat , agree. My sister is involved via a midwest power company whose concerns are quietly intensifying on a daily basis. Not an if thang but a when event.
your correct .....point well made !!
But is it well received by our own ‘deer reader” erkel mugabe ?