US blackout was computer related

Inquirerer ^ | 5 September 2003 | Egan Orion

[Hal1950]

Utility logs start to be revealed

Transcripts of telephone conversations between utility operators prior to last month's power blackout in the US and Canada were published Wednesday, so writes Wired. They include explicit mention of some unknown 'computer problems' at FirstEnergy, the Ohio utility thought to have triggered the regional power failures, in those preceding hours.

Early on, a controller at the Midwest Independent System Operator asked his counterpart at FirstEnergy why it hadn't reacted to a transmission line outage. The utility's technician replied:

"We have no clue. Our computer is giving us fits, too. We don't even know the status of some of the stuff around us."

That "stuff" included multi-megawatt power plants as well as connected high-voltage switching nodes and transmission lines. In a followup call, a regional power controller expressed frustration at lack of action:

"I called you guys like 10 minutes ago, and I thought you were figuring out what was gong on there."

But the same FirstEnergy operator was still running blind, paralyzed by mysterious computer problems, saying:

"Well, we're trying to. Our computer is not happy. It's not cooperating either."

Two questions seemingly haven't been answered yet:

(1) Were any of those FirstEnergy networks connected to the Internet anywhere?

(2) Were any of FirstEnergy's computer systems running unpatched, vulnerable Windows?

Want to place any bets?

[billorites]

Never happens to people with Apple computers.

[epluribus_2]

we keep seeing this - the best sources say it was a UNIX box (not MS) running AIX (IBM) and X windows/Motif from GE-Harris (CMS RTS) system with Kshell (Korn). Not connected to any internet.

[week 71]

Told you y2k would have an effect.

[r9etb]

On this thread FReeper meyer describes his experience with the very computer in question.

Among other things, he says, "FE's energy management computer uses proprietary software designed by GE-Harris, built on a UNIX platform. No Microsoft there. The system was also designed to operate a grid about 1/3 the size of FE's grid."

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

UNIX not connected to the net makes sense (that is, it is typical of a large system, not that it was having problems). But, what are qualifications of someone who says the computer isn't "happy"?

[FourPeas]

I dunno, I spent ten years in IT and I regularly describe my electronic annoyances as not being "happy".

[appeal2]

Why didn't the guy just hit . It always works for me.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

I thought of that, and almost mentioned that as a possibility. In print, it just looks more stupid than it may really be.

[OXENinFLA]

April 23, 2002

Remarks by Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to the Electronics Industries Alliance

Grand Hyatt Hotel Washington, D.C.

GOVERNOR RIDGE: Terrorists can sit at one computer connected to one network and can create worldwide havoc -- don't necessarily need bomb or explosives to cripple a sector of the economy, or shutdown a power grid., All a terrorist needs is a weapons of mass destruction.

Hummmmm....

[r9etb]

But, what are qualifications of someone who says the computer isn't "happy"?

I don't know. All I know is, I am qualified to do my job, despite having actually said things like "the computer is hosed," or "the damned thing just barfed." Or, as it happens, "the computer is not happy."

[Malsua]

>>I dunno, I spent ten years in IT and I regularly describe my electronic annoyances as not being "happy". <<

Ditto, I've been in IT for about 17 years now and I personify my computer's moods all the time much to the humor of the non-it types.

For example...

"My computer stopped working, what was wrong"

Instead of replying "well, you idiot, you had a dll that was corrupted because you installed spyware that replaced the MS winsock DLL with Bonzai's and hence caused all sorts of problems with the TCPIP AS/400 client access software."

I say "Bonzai Butt buddy came in and bent your machine over and the Kernal was very unhappy about it. I douched it good and it's been happy and behaving ever since"

[Last Visible Dog]

Never happens to people with Apple computers.

Maybe because Apple computers are never used in mission-critical applications...

Famous Slogan: You don’t have to be Computer-Illiterate to use Apple computers, but it helps

[Sloth]

I say "Bonzai Butt buddy came in and bent your machine over and the Kernal was very unhappy about it. I douched it good and it's been happy and behaving ever since"

I predict you will become the first person in the world to be sued by a computer, for sexual harassment.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Good point, someone else made it and I responded here.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/976807/posts?page=9#9

[Sloth]

You don’t have to be Computer-Illiterate to use Apple computers, but it helps

LOL!

[Orion78]

PING!

[GunnyHartman]

On behalf of my fellow computer geeks everywhere...

[meyer]

UNIX not connected to the net makes sense (that is, it is typical of a large system, not that it was having problems). But, what are qualifications of someone who says the computer isn't "happy"?

Knowing personally the source of the quote, I will say 2 things - one, he's pretty bright, and two, he's an end user, not a programmer or IT pro. And, he's apparently got an interesting way with words. I'll withhold any other opinions at this point, other than to say that he's still with FE and I'm not.

[FourPeas]

Years ago, I sat down at my terminal (yes, THAT many years ago) and saw the following taped to it:

WARNING!

This machine is subject to breakdowns during
periods of critical need

A special curcuit in the machine called a 'critical detector' senses the operator's emotional state in terms of how desperate he or she is to use the machine. The 'critical detector' then creates a malfunction proportional to the desperation of the operator. Threatening the machine with violence only aggravates the situation. Likewise, attempts to use another machine may cause it to also malfunction. They belong to the same union. Keep cool and say nice things to the machine. Nothing else appears to work.