The Government Admits The US Power Grid Can Be Taken Out At Any Time

TBI ^ | 8-2-2012 | Walter Hickey

[blam]

The Government Admits The US Power Grid Can Be Taken Out At Any Time

Walter Hickey
Aug. 1, 2012, 7:00 PM

The Government Accountability Office just released a report backing up earlier findings: because a series of recommendations were ignored, the U.S. electric grid remains highly susceptible to cyberattacks.

The grid is reliant on a number of IT systems that have known and likely unknown vulnerabilities. The result of a cyberattack on the grid could result in damage to electricity control systems, power outages, and failures in safety equipment on a scale currently unknown.

GAO believes that there are still massive problems in the way the grid secures itself. Here are some of the reasons why they said the grid was open to attack:

* A lack of a coordinated approach to monitor industry compliance with voluntary standards.
* Aspects of the current regulatory environment made it difficult to ensure the cybersecurity of smart grid systems.
* A focus by utilities on regulatory compliance instead of comprehensive security. * A lack of security features consistently built into smart grid systems.

The verdict? A terrible regulatory environment that makes the industry focus on things that don't make the grid more secure. Electric companies who couldn't care less about spending more on security. A lack of focus on preventing an attack against the electric lifeblood of the United States.

The worst is, GAO told the Government what they had to do last year, and it was ignored.

The Department of Commerce's report on smart grid security was "missing key elements" and has not been fixed.

The Department of Energy was tasked with "periodically evaluate[ing] the extent to which utilities [...] are following voluntary interoperability and cybersecurity standards" and this report says they haven't.

(snip)

[blam]

"This is only the tip of the iceberg with regard to our vulnerability. "

Indeed.

[I see my hands]

My house.

[Marcella]

That’s what I thought, too. When you think about it, Texas is sort of its own country. When we joined the union, we kept the right to secede.

People are moving to Texas for numerous reasons - our economy is good, there are jobs here, we have a surplus in the state treasury. Our constitution requires a balanced budget so we can’t go into debt. Our constitution says marriage is between a man and a woman and we don’t recognize homo marriage. You can buy as many guns as you want and our law says you can use deadly force if you think your life is threatened. We also have concealed carry.

Liberals shouldn’t move here as their life won’t be happy. Homos shouldn’t move here, either, as they can’t marry here.

So, Texas doesn’t fit the mold of most states and that is becoming more and more important for our survival.

[Forty-Niner]

“When we joined the union, we kept the right to secede.”

Lot of good it did you in 1860-1865......

[Gator113]

Does that single panel provide for all of your power needs? What do you do for water and where is the pool? ;>)

I think I would want a few trees.

[I see my hands]

Where do you get your data regarding the number of panels and that there is a pool?

Heats, cools. cooks, entertains, runs the well, and illuminates.

If you want trees get trees.

[Gator113]

The pool comment was a joke that I apparently wasted on you.

Personally, I like trees and that is all that I meant by that.

As for the panel count, well, all I had to go by is your damn pic, but I am no longer interested.

[I see my hands]

Don't you have anything better to do than pick fights with a nobody on line?

Take that energy and go hassle a lib.

PS: The property has by a conservative estimate ten thousand trees. Mesquite and Palo Verde mostly. If you count ocotillos (which many tell me are trees) then add several thousand more.

[DuncanWaring]

Ocotillos aren’t trees - they’re field-expedient barbed wire.

[I see my hands]

Once on a hike I had to pass through a dense and extensive jumping (teddy bear) cholla patch. That was scary.

[DuncanWaring]

I once saw someone land a hot-air balloon in a large patch of that on a very windy day.

Didn’t end well.

[Gator113]

I didn’t pick a fight with you. I had absolutely no such intention.

I had actually tried to be sociable and I was interested in details about your power source. I have a solar panel on my Airstream trailer and it works quite nice. I have been considering them for my house, which is much larger than yours.

Anyway, you have made all of that a mute point as I no longer care about your gravel pit.

[I see my hands]

On the mainland I've also got this one. Is yours still bigger than mine? LOL!

[Gator113]

Yes, but mine doesn’t look like a mini-prison. LOL @ you.

[EternalHope]

This problem was clearly identified after 9-11. With even a mildly competent homeland security department this problem would no longer represent a significant current threat.

If NOTHING was done to reduce the risk between then and now I’d be surprised. However, I can easily see how NOT ENOUGH has been done.

(Sadly, it even seems possible that NOTHING was done. Either way, if we have a significant current problem then part of the blame lies with Bush as well as with Obama.)

[patton]

If a tree falls in Ohio..

[Myrddin]

Ohio or Oregon. Both places have whacked the grid.

[_Jim]

“The Government Admits The US Power Grid Can Be Taken Out At Any Time”

Repeat after me:

The US has three separate, independent power ‘grids’ ...
The US has three separate, independent power ‘grids’ ...
The US has three separate, independent power ‘grids’ ...
...

[null and void]

Which ones are immune to attack?

[_Jim]

Which ones are immune to attack?

When all it takes to STOP an attack is the simple removal of an RJ-45 connector from a router in a rack? (This begs the question: How is the beginning of an attack recognized? This also overlooks how rules are implemented in routers providing service from access points to 'the cloud' serve to limit what IP addys are allowed access to private physical networks.)

You ppl make any sort of defense or active countermeasures sound impossible ... (notwithstanding the use of VPNs, private physical networks et al)

Don't you ppl subscribe to anything like Network World or pay attention to what vendors offer in the way of routers and traffic screening/filtering? Don't make the mistake of projecting your network practices onto others in the real world ...