Sounds like the most recent Die Hard movie. From AP-
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hackers literally turned out the lights in multiple cities after breaking into electrical utilities and demanding extortion payments before disrupting the power, a senior CIA analyst told utility engineers at a trade conference.The Bruce Willis movie is fantasy. However the reality is, our electric grids and the internet could be the target of hackers employed by terrorists. Attacks on the internet were seen in 2002 and as recently as February 2007. The later attack gaining little mention in the press at the time, the MSM and American public too fixated on the trivial goings on after a woman died in South Florida.(The 2002 attack had the misfortune of occuring at the same time as the DC sniper attacks)All the break-ins occurred outside the United States, said senior CIA analyst Tom Donahue. The U.S. government believes some of the hackers had inside knowledge to cause the outages. Donahue did not specify what countries were affected, when the outages occurred or how long the outages lasted. He said they happened in "several regions outside the United States."
"In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities," Donahue said in a statement. "We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet."
A CIA spokesman Friday declined to provide additional details.
"The information that could be shared in a public setting was shared," said spokesman George Little. "These comments were simply designed to highlight to the audience the challenges posed by potential cyber intrusions."
Donahue spoke earlier this week at the Process Control Security Summit in New Orleans, a gathering of engineers and security managers for energy and water utilities.
The Bush administration is increasingly worried about the little-understood risks from hackers to the specialized electronic equipment that operates power, water and chemical plants.
In a test last year, the Homeland Security Department produced a video showing commands quietly triggered by simulated hackers having such a violent reaction that an enormous generator shudders as it flies apart and belches black-and-white smoke.
The damage a lengthy outage can do can't be understated. The 2003 Northeast blackout, probably caused by some untrimmed trees in Ohio, is supposed to caused 6 to 10 billion dollars in damage. Not to mention the 8 lives that were lost. Just imagine what happens if the power grid goes down for a week or more for an area of the US as large or larger than the 2003 blackout, or the 1965 blackout. I have no solutions to propose, just pray that there are people working to prevent this from happening.
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War On Terror
Comments (12)
Does anybody know why power... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Mike | January 19, 2008 10:54 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Does anybody know why power grids are connected to the internet? Shouldn't they have closed networks with separate computers for outside lines? It seems pretty stupid to be this vulnerable.
1. Posted by Mike | January 19, 2008 10:54 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 10:54
2. Posted by Maggie | January 19, 2008 11:05 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Bush senior took Texas out of the national
energy grid back in the late 80's. Texas
is a stand alone energy grid now.
Maybe all that saudi oil money floating
around this state had something to do with
it.
2. Posted by Maggie | January 19, 2008 11:05 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 11:05
3. Posted by Rovin![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://wizbangblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| January 19, 2008 11:28 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Remember the 1965 blackout well Bill. Also remember the record fornication "committed" during the episode with no tv, radio to interupt the process. Candelight Delight!
3. Posted by Rovin![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://wizbangblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| January 19, 2008 11:28 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 11:28
4. Posted by Pro Cynic | January 19, 2008 12:32 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Won't let me trackback to your post for some reason. I comment on this story in a terrorism context. Just imagine if we had another "Northeast Blackout" this weekend, with temperatures in the single digits. The death toll could be absolutely catastrophic due to cold. The feds need to make securing our power grid a much higher priority.
4. Posted by Pro Cynic | January 19, 2008 12:32 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 12:32
5. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | January 19, 2008 12:42 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The damage a lengthy outage can do can't be understated.
Shouldn't that be "can't be overstated"?
5. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | January 19, 2008 12:42 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 12:42
6. Posted by jpm100 | January 19, 2008 1:22 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The problem I have with the 2003 outage is there's nothing in place to cope with the outage. Preventing the outage would be good, but failures will eventually happen. If the NE outage lasted just twice as long or happened in the extreme cold or heat, it would have been far uglier.
6. Posted by jpm100 | January 19, 2008 1:22 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 13:22
7. Posted by JACK ARMY | January 19, 2008 1:35 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Well, the power went out here in Wahiawa (across the street from Schofield Barracks, HI) for 2hrs last night...
now I know why.
Damned weather channel hackers!
7. Posted by JACK ARMY | January 19, 2008 1:35 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 13:35
8. Posted by Bill Jempty | January 19, 2008 1:55 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Remember the 1965 blackout well Bill. Also remember the record fornication "committed" during the episode with no tv, radio to interupt the process. Candelight Delight!
That's an urban legend hoisted by of all people, the NY Times. Even 40 years ago they made stuff up.
People still believe it even though it was debunked in 1970.
8. Posted by Bill Jempty | January 19, 2008 1:55 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 13:55
9. Posted by captaindog | January 19, 2008 2:52 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I blame all power outages past, present and future on Monica Lewinsky's ex-boyfriends old hag of a wife. I also blame her for us not getting as much snow as promised today.
9. Posted by captaindog | January 19, 2008 2:52 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 14:52
10. Posted by epador | January 19, 2008 4:04 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
We (Clatsop County) lost all phone service Friday AM and its still out. All those with Qwest internet service are stranded. Never thought I'd be glad I went to cable...
10. Posted by epador | January 19, 2008 4:04 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 16:04
11. Posted by molon labe | January 19, 2008 4:10 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I have no solutions to propose, just pray that there are people working to prevent this from happening.
I3P Consortium
11. Posted by molon labe | January 19, 2008 4:10 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 19, 2008 16:10
12. Posted by USpace![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://wizbangblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| January 23, 2008 1:05 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The NYC Blackout a few years ago was no picnic. We must stop the Jihadi Monkey Hackers!
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
never be paranoid
sitting in cybercafes
in the Paris banlieues
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
don't pretend to do Jihad
and infiltrate terrorists
to help them meet their virgins
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe wants
Islam for everyone
submit to glorious life
slavery and servitude
.
http://absurdthoughtsaboutgod.blogspot.com/
http://haltterrorism.com/
:)
12. Posted by USpace![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://wizbangblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| January 23, 2008 1:05 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 23, 2008 01:05