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Here in Michigan, there has been a series of extraordinary power failures. There has been partial substation failures and outages that have affected large building like schools, retail stores and the like. Typically, these building lose partial power, affecting electronics, lighting, etc. What could cause such an outbreak over such a wide area (SE Michigan). Could it be tied to the Electrical distribution Networks computers? I know someone here knows how Electrical utilities work.

Mike

No building loses partial power unless it’s a problem within the walls of the school. When power fails at a substation, all power provided by that substation is affected. Only if a building has a generator could it have “partial” power.

What could cause such an outbreak over such a wide area (SE Michigan).

Theft of copper comes to mind. It is Detroit.

Here in Michigan, there has been a series of extraordinary power failures. There has been partial substation failures and outages that have affected large building like schools, retail stores and the like. Typically, these building lose partial power, affecting electronics, lighting, etc. What could cause such an outbreak over such a wide area (SE Michigan). Could it be tied to the Electrical distribution Networks computers? I know someone here knows how Electrical utilities work.

I work in telecom - and I have warned of security vulnerabilities for years. But, usually the "suits" won't listen.

Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition [SCADA] provides for remote data sensing and also remote supervisory control.

While the actual data sensing can be sent over public networks, such as the Internet, supervisory control should be sent over dedicated private networks [as an example: corporate T-1 lines] or thru the Public Switched Telephone Network [PSTN].

The T-1 lines [and the like] are absolutely secure [as long as no one physically taps into them], use of the public telephone network requires the use of a dial-back modem.

When using a dial-back modem, the remote user uses a computer terminal to call the station where the equipment is located. The dial-back modem at the station receives the call and hangs up. The dial-back modem then calls the pre-programmed telephone number back to the remote computer terminal.

Once the connection is established, a username and password are required by the dial-back modem for authentication. The connection is then allowed to be connected to the server located at the site. Again, a username and password are required.

Once this is accomplished, the reemote user has full control of the equipment at the site. Usually, the format is via Command Line Interface [CLI] - which uses simple text commands in order to control the equipment.

This method is EXTREMELY secure, albeit slow when compared to using the Internet. It also costs the price of a telephone line from EACH site to the PSTN and also a telephine line to the remote computer terminal at the Control Center. In addition, there is the one-time cost of the dial-back modem for each site.

The "suits" generally do not like this because of the cost involved. Lets say you have 100 sites. If the dial-back modems cost $50 apiece, the one-time cost is $5000. And if the telephone lines cost $20 pre month, the monthly recurring cost is $2020 [including the telephone line at the Control Center - or $24240 per year.

It is also much slower than using high-speed public Internet access. But, the security it gives vs. the time difference involved supercedes using the public Internet.