Hackers Have Cut Power Grid In Several Cities
We had reported a couple of days back the the NYPA had injected $7m to bolster its cyber security. We had also mentioned that this was an eery throwback to Die Hard 4. Now the CIA is reporting that malicious hackers have managed to infiltrate the computer systems via the Internet and cut the power supply to several cities.
CIA analyst Tom Donahue has recently disclosed the news in a conference of security professionals. He has however refused to provide further details.
“We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands… 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.” — Mr. Donahue said in a statement published in the website of SANS, the organizers of the conference.
So far an element of movies and popular fiction, power grid hacking is fast rising as an imminent threat to US security.
The chinks in the armor are already showing, and many will recall a CNN broadcast of an Idaho National Library demonstration on how an attack on a computer system can be used to shut down a power generator. Well, power grid hacking seems to have finally arrived.
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