Posted on 04/16/2014 12:42:41 PM PDT by george76
In Congress, the vulnerability of the power grid has emerged as among the most pressing domestic security concerns.
...
Crain, the owner of a small tech firm in Raleigh, N.C., along with a research partner, found penetrating transmission systems used by dozens of utilities to be startlingly easy. After they shared their discovery with beleaguered utility security officials, the Homeland Security Department began sending alerts to power grid operators, advising them to upgrade their software.
The alerts haven't stopped because Crain keeps finding new security holes he can exploit.
"There are a lot of people going through various stages of denial" about how easily terrorists could disrupt the power grid, he said. "If I could write a tool that does this, you can be sure a nation state or someone with more resources could."
Those sorts of warnings, along with vivid demonstrations of the grid's vulnerability, such as an incident a year ago in which unknown assailants fired on a power station near San Jose, nearly knocking out electricity to Silicon Valley, have grabbed official attention.
...
a cyberterrorist with a little knowledge and the right laptop can gain that access and cause chaos in a regional power system merely by linking up with the control panel at a secluded electric vehicle charging station.
Other attacks, as the Silicon Valley incident showed, can take shape without computers. Last month, New Jersey's Regional Operations Intelligence Center, a state agency that monitors security threats, published a report revealing constant breaches at power stations. The incidents involved people armed with such mundane equipment as false identification, wire cutters and crowbars.
...
"Many of the grid's important components sit out in the open," the report said, "often in remote locations, protected by little more than cameras and chain-link fences."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I commend dedicated point to point Ethernet to my customers for that purpose. Better bandwidth and the costs have dropped dramatically on those in the last few years.
I doubt it. They have done diddly squat about chaos all along the border between the USA and Mexico.
Exactamundo, however!
Al Czervik to the rescue!
Might wanna give securing the southern border some thought......
Yeah but that would cut into dingy’s cash flow from town
” a cyberterrorist with a little knowledge and the right laptop can gain that access and cause chaos in a regional power system merely by linking up with the control panel at a secluded electric vehicle charging station. “
‘Scuze me while I chuckle over THIS one ....
” Those sorts of warnings, along with vivid demonstrations of the grid’s vulnerability, such as an incident a year ago in which unknown assailants fired on a power station near San Jose, nearly knocking out electricity to Silicon Valley, have grabbed official attention. “
Duh.
Every inch of ‘line’ is ‘unguarded’ too; someone, some company is ‘rent seeking’ with these so-called reports.
Watch closely for ‘brother-in-law’ deals to be struck and political kick-backs as well. (Follow the money!)
Wouldn’t matter feudal lord dingy must have his way, no toleration of peons failing to snap to and obey. How dare they have the audacity of saying NO.
Little men like dingy can’t take that and retaliation blinds them till they get their revenge.
Heck if China gets it’s solar throughout the US it will have access to the grid.....and could use it as an antenna to “hear” and “Monitor” what it wants of our military....
“They” have known about these weaknesses for years, maybe decades. It costs MONEY to fix them properly and the Utilities and the Government don’t want to spend that money. Each for their own reasons.
Now that the info is out they need to “Do Something” that should have been in the works a long, long time ago.
There, fixed it.
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