{"id":113972,"date":"2014-04-18T13:30:36","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T13:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theorganicprepper.ca\/?p=3597"},"modified":"2014-04-18T13:30:36","modified_gmt":"2014-04-18T13:30:36","slug":"computer-tech-shows-the-dhs-just-how-easy-it-is-to-breach-the-security-of-the-power-grid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/computer-tech-shows-the-dhs-just-how-easy-it-is-to-breach-the-security-of-the-power-grid\/","title":{"rendered":"Computer Tech Shows the DHS Just How Easy It Is to Breach the Security of the Power Grid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Computer<\/a><\/p>\n

When the mainstream news warns of an event that is high on every prepper’s list of concerns, it might be time to double up on your efforts to be ready for it.<\/p>\n

Again, the vulnerability of our power grid is in the news. \u00a0This time, the threat is hackers. The LA Times published an article highlighting how alarmingly simple it was for a guy in North Carolina to breach the online security of American power stations.<\/p>\n

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Adam Crain assumed that tapping into the computer networks used by power companies to keep electricity zipping through transmission lines would be nearly impossible in these days of heightened vigilance over cybersecurity.<\/p>\n

When he discovered how wrong he was, his work sent Homeland Security Department officials into a scramble.<\/p>\n

Crain, the owner of a small tech firm in Raleigh, N.C., along with a research partner, found penetrating transmission systems used by dozens of utilities to be startlingly easy. After they shared their discovery with beleaguered utility security officials, the Homeland Security Department began sending alerts to power grid operators, advising them to upgrade their software.<\/p>\n

The alerts haven’t stopped because Crain keeps finding new security holes he can exploit.<\/p>\n

“There are a lot of people going through various stages of denial” about how easily terrorists could disrupt the power grid, he said. “If I could write a tool that does this, you can be sure a nation state or someone with more resources could.” (source)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A year ago this month, a power station in San Jose, California was attacked by snipers. \u00a0This incident was hushed up by the mainstream media and only recently reported on. \u00a0Alarmingly, \u00a0Jon Wellinghoff, the head of the\u00a0Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,\u00a0referred to it as\u00a0\u201cthe most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred.\u201d \u00a0This was huge and we never even heard about it until months after the event. \u00a0There are still no leads as to the perpetrators of the attack. (Read more HERE<\/a>.) Clearly this just goes to highlight that the grid is vulnerable to physical attack as well as cyber attack.<\/p>\n

Even more alarming, the LA Times article goes on to say that Lloyd’s of London\u00a0has deep concerns about the delicacy of the situation. This is of particular relevance because Lloyds\u00a0boasts of specialising “in unusual risks”<\/a>. \u00a0And by unusual, I mean things like the taste buds of a famous food critic, the mustache of an Australian cricket player, the first automotive policy ever written, and even a space satellite. \u00a0When they are concerned about covering a power station, there are deep issues.<\/p>\n

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Lloyds’ appraisers have been making a lot of visits lately to power companies seeking protection against the risk of cyberattack. Their takeaway: Security at about half the companies they visit is too weak for Lloyds to offer a policy.<\/p>\n

“When Lloyds won’t insure you, you know you’ve got a problem,” said Patrick Miller, founder of the Energy Sector Security Consortium, a Washington-based nonprofit that advocates tougher cybersecurity measures for the electricity industry.\u00a0(source)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you are new to preparedness, you may not realize the deeper implications of a long-term power failure. It goes far beyond the inconvenience of no lights and no television. \u00a0In the event of a grid failure that is widespread and lasts for more than a week or two, these problems will occur for millions of Americans:<\/p>\n

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