Officials discount rumors of al Qaeda links in Jacksonville (and Florida)
I have no evidence confirming the power outage in Jacksonville was a cyber-attack. However, the official explanation for the outage is 100% consistent with a cyber-attack. This event is consistent with the concerns outlined in the Wash. Post article, "Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared", linked above.
Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared
The devices are called distributed control systems, or DCS, and supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, systems. The simplest ones collect measurements, throw railway switches, close circuit-breakers or adjust valves in the pipes that carry water, oil and gas. More complicated versions sift incoming data, govern multiple devices and cover a broader area.
What is new and dangerous is that most of these devices are now being connected to the Internet -- some of them, according to classified "Red Team" intrusion exercises, in ways that their owners do not suspect.
Because the digital controls were not designed with public access in mind, they typically lack even rudimentary security, having fewer safeguards than the purchase of flowers online