MESSAGE
| DATE | 2008-01-19 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Blackouts and Computer Networks
|
CIA Says Hackers Have Cut Power Grid Several cities outside the
U.S. have sustained attacks on utility systems and extortion demands.
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service Saturday, January 19, 2008 06:00 AM PST
Criminals have been able to hack into computer systems via the Internet
and cut power to several cities, a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
analyst said this week.
Speaking at a conference of security professionals on Wednesday, CIA
analyst Tom Donahue disclosed the recently declassified attacks while
offering few specifics on what actually went wrong.
Criminals have launched online attacks that disrupted power equipment
in several regions outside of the U.S., he said, without identifying
the countries affected. The goal of the attacks was extortion, he said.
"We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States,
of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands,"
he said in a statement posted to the Web on Friday by the conference's
organizers, the SANS Institute. "In at least one case, the disruption
caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who
executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through
the Internet."
"According to Mr. Donahue, the CIA actively and thoroughly considered
the benefits and risks of making this information public, and came down
on the side of disclosure," SANS said in the statement.
One conference attendee said the disclosure came as news to many of
the government and industry security professionals in attendance. "It
appeared that there were a lot of people who didn't know this already,"
said the attendee, who asked not to be identified because he is not
authorized to speak with the press.
He confirmed SANS' report of the talk. "There were apparently a couple
of incidents where extortionists cut off power to several cities using
some sort of attack on the power grid, and it does not appear to be a
physical attack," he said.
Hacking the power grid made front-page headlines in September when
CNN aired a video showing an Idaho National Laboratory demonstration
of a software attack on the computer system used to control a power
generator. In the demonstration, the smoking generator was rendered
inoperable.
The U.S. is taking steps to lock down the computers that manage its
power systems, however.
On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved
new mandatory standards designed to improve cybersecurity.
CIA representatives could not be reached immediately for comment.
--
http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Interesting Stuff
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://fairuse.nylxs.com DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
"Yeah - I write Free Software...so SUE ME"
"The tremendous problem we face is that we are becoming sharecroppers to our own cultural heritage -- we need the ability to participate in our own society."
"> I'm an engineer. I choose the best tool for the job, politics be damned.<
You must be a stupid engineer then, because politcs and technology have been attached at the hip since the 1st dynasty in Ancient Egypt. I guess you missed that one."
© Copyright for the Digital Millennium
|
|
