Electrical Grid Vulnerable To Hackers

AP via MSNBC ^ | September 11,2003 | Jim Krane

[John W]

NEW YORK, Sept. 11 — Since last month’s widespread blackout, utilities have accelerated plans to automate the electric grid, replacing aging monitoring systems with digital switches and other high-tech gear. But those very improvements are making the electricity supply vulnerable to a different kind of peril: computer viruses and hackers who could black out substations, cities or entire states.

Researches working for the U.S., Canadian and British governments have already found “back doors” — ways into the digital relays and control room technology that increasingly direct electricity flow in North America.

[taxcontrol]

Old news to those of us in the security field.