remember Ive mentioned the potential for major power disruptions?

some of you may recall me mentioning that there has been a lot of scuttlebutt about major grid failures coming ,this seems to substantiate those rumors somewhat.

Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated by Spies
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
APRIL 7, 2009, 7:57 P.M. ET


Robert Moran monitors an electric grid in Dallas. Such
infrastructure grids across the country are vulnerable to cyberattacks.
WASHINGTON -- Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.

The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war. "The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official. "So have the Russians."

The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn't target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. "There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official said, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year." Many of the intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure but by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said. Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet.

Authorities investigating the intrusions have found software tools left behind that could be used to destroy infrastructure components, the senior intelligence official said. He added, "If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on."

Officials said water, sewage and other infrastructure systems also were at risk. ,"Over the past several years, we have seen cyberattacks against critical infrastructures abroad, and many of our own infrastructures are as vulnerable as their foreign counterparts, " Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair recently told lawmakers. "A number of nations, including Russia and China, can disrupt elements of the U.S. information infrastructure."

Officials cautioned that the motivation of the cyberspies wasn't well understood, and they don't see an immediate danger. China, for example, has little incentive to disrupt the U.S. economy because it relies on American consumers and holds U.S. government debt.

But protecting the electrical grid and other infrastructure is a key part of the Obama administration's cybersecurity review, which is to be completed next week. Under the Bush administration, Congress approved $17 billion in secret funds to protect government networks, according to people familiar with the budget. The Obama administration is weighing whether to expand the program to address vulnerabilities in private computer networks, which would cost billions of dollars more. A senior Pentagon official said Tuesday the Pentagon has spent $100 million in the past six months repairing cyber damage.

Overseas examples show the potential havoc. In 2000, a disgruntled employee rigged a computerized control system at a water-treatment plant in Australia, releasing more than 200,000 gallons of sewage into parks, rivers and the grounds of a Hyatt hotel. Last year, a senior Central Intelligence Agency official, Tom Donohue, told a meeting of utility company representatives in New Orleans that a cyberattack had taken out power equipment in multiple regions outside the U.S. The outage was followed with extortion demands, he said.

The U.S. electrical grid comprises three separate electric networks, covering the East, the West and Texas. Each includes many thousands of miles of transmission lines, power plants and substations. The flow of power is controlled by local utilities or regional transmission organizations. The growing reliance of utilities on Internet-based communication has increased the vulnerability of control systems to spies and hackers, according to government reports.

The sophistication of the U.S. intrusions -- which extend beyond electric to other key infrastructure systems -- suggests that China and Russia are mainly responsible, according to intelligence officials and cybersecurity specialists. While terrorist groups could develop the ability to penetrate U.S. infrastructure, they don't appear to have yet mounted attacks, these officials say.

It is nearly impossible to know whether or not an attack is government-sponsored because of the difficulty in tracking true identities in cyberspace. U.S. officials said investigators have followed electronic trails of stolen data to China and Russia. Russian and Chinese officials have denied any wrongdoing. "These are pure speculations," said Yevgeniy Khorishko, a spokesman at the Russian Embassy. "Russia has nothing to do with the cyberattacks on the U.S. infrastructure, or on any infrastructure in any other country in the world."

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Wang Baodong, said the Chinese government "resolutely oppose any crime, including hacking, that destroys the Internet or computer network" and has laws barring the practice. China was ready to cooperate with other countries to counter such attacks, he said, and added that "some people overseas with Cold War mentality are indulged in fabricating the sheer lies of the so-called cyberspies in China."

Utilities are reluctant to speak about the dangers. "Much of what we've done, we can't talk about," said Ray Dotter, a spokesman at PJM Interconnection LLC, which coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in 13 states and the District of Columbia. He said the organization has beefed up its security, in conformance with federal standards.

In January 2008, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved new protection measures that required improvements in the security of computer servers and better plans for handling attacks. Last week, Senate Democrats introduced a proposal that would require all critical infrastructure companies to meet new cybersecurity standards and grant the president emergency powers over control of the grid systems and other infrastructure.

Specialists at the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a nonprofit research institute, said attack programs search for openings in a network, much as a thief tests locks on doors. Once inside, these programs and their human controllers can acquire the same access and powers as a systems administrator.

 

Interesting.

Same time as the coal companies are having their wings clipped.

Same time as they are using the idea of massive power failures to convince folks it's a good idea to build hundreds of miles of new 765 kv power lines across the eastern US in order to utilize the rest of the Appalachians for mountaintop removal coal mining.....

The Big Boys were visitin' in China not all that long ago...

 

Them fucking chinks and russians are sneaky bastards, every night my website gets attacked...

I got me a small 3.5k gas and a 8.5k oil burner with a 200 gallon tank so fuckem...and also here in the mountains the solar options are awsome....my small motor "clean room" runs 95 percent of the time off a single panal and a small bank of batts.

 

But there is always the real story behind the one they give you. China is the perfect scapegoat for when they want to cut off power so people will leave their homes and look for some government breadline or shelter. Once they unleash their full chaos and declare martial law, they're going to be shutting off people's power to get them to leave their homes. I wouldn't be surprised if they were to contrive some sort of event to blame on the Chinese so people will look to their own government as the savior. They always create an outside enemy, and this story could not be coming at a more opportune time. I believe there is an agenda behind what they're telling us.

 

Oh i definitely find it more than a little interesting that for the last year or so rumors of major grid failures coming have been circulating on the internet from "reliable sources" and now this has come out.

planned or not everyone should take this as a warning and prepare accordingly..

 

Yes I heard about this on the news today, interesting story but it would be difficult for a hacker to intrude on an VPN (Virutal Private Network basically a very big LAN). Though slightly possible, the russian or chinese who they claim are behind the cyber terrorism would probably have to have inside information to break through such highly protected american nessaties. Then again if someone wants to crack something bad enough it's only a matter of time before they get through.

 

if they can access the pentagons computers im sure they can access the grid..

FOXNews.com - Pentagon Source Says China Hacked Defense Department ...

China's computer hacking worries Pentagon - Los Angeles Times

 

China's computer hacking worries Pentagon - Los Angeles Times

I think there is definitely a reason to be concerned but it's way over blown by the media. If the US government were serious about this, they could render Chinas hacking community useless by only allowing them to receive Chinese IPs.

 

take it however you want.. like i said there has been scuttlebutt about this for months now and now this.

if i wasnt already ready to live without power indefinitely i would take it as a warning..

but ive already got those bases covered. not my problem if it happens,it would be yours..

 

The fact is that China is not the threat here. I think they're just cooking up a good cover story in advance. I find it hard to believe that they know the Chinese have hacked into our energy grid and have installed programs to hijack it, yet they cannot do anything to fix it or ensure that what they're saying could happen doesn't. It's just more of their lies and fearmongering. I can guarantee you that once we see major power outages in this country, it won't be because of the Chinese. Once things go to hell and the dollar finally implodes (which they will also blame on China), we will no doubt see martial law coincide with massive and widespread power outrages in order to get the people into the government shelters and breadlines. This is what they have planned. They always have to create an outside enemy to take the attention off of themselves and make the people think their own abusers are their saviors. All this stuff about China is bullshit and spin. If China did this they would only be creating the chaos the controllers want.

 

Yeah, but look who's saying this: the government and their lapdog media. You cannot believe a thing they say. Sure there is some truth to it, but there is always spin as well. The Obama administration is looking to make Russia and China the new enemy, so you have to ask yourself who this sort of talk stands to benefit.

 

most of the people who are quoted in these stories are people whose jobs wouldn't exist but for stories like this.

needing to create fear to raise your stock price is a popular motivation nowadays.

 

yes rat i know where your coming from and i agree. my only point to this thread is , youve been warned. (not you in particular)

 

I thought I would offer my little twist to this thread: I am living in China right now, on a university campus. I will remain neutral and just state the facts that I have seen. As far as power, electricity is cut off at 11:30 pm sharp in the dorms! No matter the year. So in the summer, the students have no air conditioning after 1130 ("we use thick papers to fan ourselves" one student said). Likewise in the winter, they have no heat after this time because power is cut off. This cuts down on campus life, especially on the weekends. I believe the gate to the campus is even closed at 11;00 pm sharp, seven days a week. I remember being out once with a friend and students came up to me on a Saturday no less, at 10:15, and asked me what I was doing out so late! In America and especially Europe, this is extremely early!! I believe the power is also cut off at certain parts of the day, like 6-8 pm for instance, I believe. I know a few of the students mentioned a few hours here and there. Maybe not 6-8, but an hour here, and there. Of course the teachers dorms (where I am) have electricity 24/7, but I feel bad for the students. This is especially difficult on some of the boys who have computer game addictions. Often they will stay at a hotel with a computer area and pay the 10 +/- yuan (1-2 dollars) to play all night and usually fall asleep there. Well, I don't feel bad for these students as much because these are the ones always falling asleep in class.

 

In Zimbabwe they have to share water supply hours on a schedule too. So, you can only flush your toilets or shower at strange times throughout the day, like 2am-6am in certain neighbourhoods.

 

Someday it will come to the west.

 

At the rate we are consuming, sure.

 

Energy is easy to make, only stupid people waste it...
The rest is the Bullshit.. Ahhemm.. Industrial complexes in Iraq disabled during US bombing campaign , back online in weeks, Along that grid is civil consumers also with power after reinstallation of Substation crossovers like this http://www.bbecon.com/albums/Substation-Construction/Koch_Substation_Shot_7.jpg which is easy to disable.. But also 1000's of them in storage anywhere possible millions of this part alone in the world. Even godzilla couldnt turn out the lights,, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEfD0-HglHA&feature=related
:sifone:
Service interruptions are considered more wasteful,, causing food waste and many other consumer annoyances.
Its likely that a virus could cause some harm to software, but much of this is monitoring of hardware. Powerstations are not even maned by many people, but simple switches they have had since the beginning of providing energy they still use..

 

It will have nothing to do with rates of consumption, but that is what they will most likely tell us, and no doubt people will go along with it.

 

What made you decide on China? I wouldn't mind visiting there for the experience, but I doubt I would ever want to stay there for any prolonged period of time.

How long are you planning on staying there?

How is it that you are able to stay at the teachers' dorms at the university? How many people have you run into that speak English? Do you ever feel anxious being in a foreign country so far from home, let alone China? It's got to be a strange feeling.