Posted on 07/23/2018 1:45:02 PM PDT by blueplum
ASPEN, Colo. — Iranian hackers have laid the groundwork to carry out extensive cyberattacks on U.S. and European infrastructure and private companies, and the U.S. is warning allies, hardening its defenses and weighing a counterattack, say multiple senior U.S. officials. {snip}
While Russia may be the most aggressive, multiple senior U.S. officials said Iran is making preparations that would enable denial of service attacks against thousands of electric grids, water plants, and health care and technology companies in the U.S., Germany, the U.K. and other countries in Europe and the Middle East. {snip}
On July 13, Coats told the Hudson Institute in Washington that the warning signs about coming cyber threats are similar to the signs the U.S. saw before Sept. 11, 2001. "The warning lights are blinking red again," said Coats.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
45 MAGA Tons.
The President should send them 2 billion dollars in all currencies by the pallet load.
They would soon stop their terrorists activities, of this I am sure.
“I confess I know little about our computer systems, but the time to try to see that our “EVERYTHING” isnt all linked up, is long gone. Anything that has been built in the last several decades, is run on computer systems.”
That IS NOT THE POINT. Even our utility companies and operators of the grid have been using computers for decades.
What is new, and I think (I use to be an IT director), is their operational external linking of those systems to the Internet, which is how the hacking occurs.
IT IS NOT operationally necessary for them to do that, except that they have done it and don’t want to undo it.
Instead they will pretend they can “harden” those external connections to “prevent” cyber attacks. They can’t and they won’t. It has been proven time and again that ALL they can do is “improve” them but where there is will to break in, it will happen, sooner or later.
The change to undo those external connections will be far easier than the chanegs they made to create them. But it will require hiring more people, because operations sites and equipment will not be able to be controlled REMOTELY from some communications center hundreds of miles away. The site/location of that ewquipment will (as it did before) control persons directly in charge of a system/equipment, and they, using systems ONLY connected to the equipment on that site, will institute any control command/changes requested from a higher authority in the system.
Current methods which “control” electric equipnent:
One man presses a key, and in seconds some equipment hundreds of miles away has new operational instructions, via the hackable telecom grid.
How it was an can be:
One man presses a key, and in seconds another man sitting at the controls of some equipment hundreds of miles away has new operational instructions for some equipment at his sight. Using another, a differwent totollay local system that connects only to the equipment at that site, five seconds later he hits a key on that separate system to cause the requested change.
All that “automation” has done in millions of instances is just increase our vulnerabilities, and ditched millions of jobs that use to keep us more secure.
Before, an enemy had to subvert the people working in our electric grid systems, in order to create a vulnerability in them. Now a hacker sitting in Tehran or North Korea, a single person, can do it all by themself. THAT is not “better” and it was not “necesary”. Simply because computers and the Internet exist, does not put them in charge, does not mandate our stupidity to use them in ways that makes us more vulnerable.
I obviously don’t know a fraction of what you know about computers, but I’ll take your word that you know whereof you speak. Maddening to see what we’ve done to ourselves/allowed others to do to us.
It is a matter of:
(a) dual systems - some people may need for some work reason to have an Internet connection, but that deos predicate that everything be Internet connected,
(b) and the Internt should not be rhe means for ANY remote communication with any unmanned equipment. Remote communications should use non-Internet, non-telecom-backbone means of remote communication.
Yes, it will require they spend more money and hire more people, and if they do it would not mean any repairs would get done any slower. A little extra cost for a lot more security.
A billion+ in cash to Iran from Obama is paying off dividends in Obama’s war on U.S.
SATCOMS is spendy. MILSTAR is not available for public use. Radio Comms are only as reliable as Hardware and Power is.
Accidents happen. I stopped by one Water Treatment Plant on My day off just minutes after a Chlorine Delivery Truck with the crane still halfway up moving to the second location for unloading the 2000 pound tanks snagged a set of Guide Wire for the 300’ tall Radio Tower that connects the SCADA SYSTEM to the 30+ Remote Sites. POOF!!! We are SCREWED !!! So much for My day off. We called everyone in and sent people to the most critical sites with Cell Phones and went to calling Commands back and forth the rest of the day until We got a Temporary Half Assesed Radio Tower (40’) operational that worked for about 18-20 Sites.
It took 2 weeks to clean up the mess and get the new Tower operational.
“I don’t think they’re using the internet alone. The internet is probably the primary comms path between nodes on the grid since it’s safe and effective most of the time.”
Most of the time only has to fail once.
As I said above, in the past an enemy had to subvert some folks running our infrastructure systems, in order to create a vulnerability in them. The Internet and the range of tools employing it has not made is safer. It has made it possible for a single hacker sitting in Terhan or North Korea to create untold harm.
We have sacrifice security for “speed”. It is not worth it.
Given the passwords by muzzy Brennan with a still active security clearance?
Wait a minute, I thought that it was only Russians the USA had to worry about.
Trey Gowdy yesterday on Fox News Sunday was very careful to tip toe around every country but Russia when he was naming our enemies.
Tell that to the number crunchers in Accounting and see what answers You get. Please let Me know what they tell you, I’ll bet I’ve heard all the optional answers but just incase somebody comes up with a new one...
AGAIN I WILL REPEAT: Tell that to the number crunchers in Accounting and see what answers You get. Please let Me know what they tell you, I’ll bet I’ve heard all the optional answers but just incase somebody comes up with a new one...
Having spent 3 trips into and out of Tehran I find this funny. There electric supply almost closes down at 4PM every day I was laying in bed many times watching TV in the Intercontinental Hotel in Tehran and at 4PM when people come home the size of the TV screen went down to 6 inches square every day. An they want us to be afraid of a nation that never went past the 1920s...
Having spent 3 trips into and out of Tehran I find this funny. There electric supply almost closes down at 4PM every day I was laying in bed many times watching TV in the Intercontinental Hotel in Tehran and at 4PM when people come home the size of the TV screen went down to 6 inches square every day. An they want us to be afraid of a nation that never went past the 1920s...
anybody ever held responsible?
Yes, the Chlorine Company paid for everything or the Insurance did. I never saw that Driver again so he may have been fired.
I think They also Paid for the OT as well.
Still put a major kink in Ops for a while.
But We got a Nice shiny new Tower;)
all’s well that ends well
They want to do cyber war? One must choose wisely when you poke the sleeping lion with a spear. The spear must be driven into the heart least one suffer greatly. Even a mortally wounded lion can kill you.
It should be noted that atomic weapons exploded in space can devastate the electronic infrastructure of a a small nation or continent dependent on yield and height of the explosion. A cyber-war on the USA by Iran would be unwise. A cyber war against our infrastructure is an act of war and this has consequences. The consequence can be pinpoint retaliation or total devastation. That decision is up to the president!
I would suggest the Mullahs of Iran choose wisely.
Who would retaliate? Russia would not as we as they have the ability to take each other out. China can not take us out at present but could harm us grievously. They would not fight us.
Our weapons are “dial a dose” and can take out electronics in a small area or large and zero fallout from space.
And folks say nyet to nuking iran.
Huh, nuke em.
bingo ...... ciscos tetration analytics got this stuff covered ?
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