Chinese hackers have control of US power grid

Chinese hackers have control of US power grid

news.techeye.net

The company whose software and services remotely administers and monitor large sections of the US energy industry began warning customers about a sophisticated hacker attack.

Telvent Canada said that digital fingerprints left behind by attackers point to a Chinese hacking group tied to repeated cyber-espionage campaigns against key Western interests.

It looks like the hackers managed to get past the company firewall and security systems.

Read more: news.techeye.net...

(visit the link for the full news article)

Concerted attacks going on in the banking markets too....

Most mainstreamers have become desensitized to hacking stories. They think of a bunch of kids playing around or someone trying to steal identities or financial information. Cyber terrorism has moved far beyond these short term measures. People....masses....can be harmed, disrupted, or die at the click of a mouse half the world away. Odds are that you haven't even begun to consider the implications.

Welcome to the new battleground.

news.techeye.net
(visit the link for the full news article)

Oh please please please, won't they just shut us down?

This is pretty big.

S&F

A situation like this could spark a war.

If the yanks think that 9/11 was a home-tuff attack....I wonder at the public reaction to a hacker instigated meltdown or the like.

If it were my call.......I'd order the chinese servers to be hacked, have their safety systems disabled and systematically give each server an paradoxical algorithm to burn out each system.

Here's an "unhackable firewall":



Why critical computers that control things like air traffic control or the power grid are on networks that are connected to the Internet boggles the mind. If they need to be on a WAN, make it a private one that only connects to the outside world through a sneaker-net.

Yep, sounds about right. The communists are committing cyber terror, so the NSA needs full control over the internet. I wouldn't be surprised if these instances become more and more frequent over the next year or two, thus legislation being proposed and pushed for overwhelming control.

Originally posted by chiefsmom
Oh please please please, won't they just shut us down?

ha ha....is someone hoping for an early start to their weekend?

reply to post by adjensen

Why critical computers that control things like air traffic control or the power grid are on networks that are connected to the Internet boggles the mind.

The systems are (generally) not connected to the internet. Usually the hackers connect directly to the systems via their internal networks. In the old days....a dialer would be set up to systematically call a range of phone numbers until a computer was found.....then the type of system and potential entry points can be identified.

The military works the same. Critical systems only run on dedicated networks.

Can you imagine the ramifications if a hacker were able to take control of a drone?

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
This is pretty big.

S&F

A situation like this could spark a war.

If the yanks think that 9/11 was a home-tuff attack....I wonder at the public reaction to a hacker instigated meltdown or the like.

If it were my call.......I'd order the chinese servers to be hacked, have their safety systems disabled and systematically give each server an paradoxical algorithm to burn out each system.

Strategy dictates that they won't simply cause a shutdown of the power grid. If they are going to take it down, they will do it in coordination with other attacks. They will make us blind, deaf, and mute, all at once so we can't see the REAL punch coming.

reply to post by CIAGypsy


YES!!!!! or the Apocalypse.........whatever.
It's been a rough week.

reply to post by OccamAssassin


Doesn't matter that systems aren't connected to the internet. They are getting crafty and finding the modern day trojan horse.....

Malware inserted on PC production lines

Cybercriminals have opened a new front in their battle to infect computers with malware - PC production lines.

Several new computers have been found carrying malware installed in the factory, suggests a Microsoft study

They can infect anything with a circuit board that may get connected to a network - copiers, scanners, cameras, keyboard, mouse, you name it.....

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
reply to post by adjensen

 

Why critical computers that control things like air traffic control or the power grid are on networks that are connected to the Internet boggles the mind.

The systems are (generally) not connected to the internet. Usually the hackers connect directly to the systems via their internal networks.

That's my point -- no remote access, for any reason, and problem solved -- if it's not on the local wire (even if the "local" wire has to be routed over hundreds of miles,) there is no connecting. Does that make the system inconvenient? Probably, but if it prevents a cyber attack, whatever.

I don't see them being able to shut down the power systems of really anything. The online network half of the power grid only displays the grid, but does not give the ability to turn off any power. To turn the power off a call is made to the in house network and they turn it off from there, if it's a small building. If it's a larger building they send a crew to turn it off.

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
reply to post by adjensen

Can you imagine the ramifications if a hacker were able to take control of a drone?

This has already happened.... Didn't you see the thread on ATS?

reply to post by adjensen


Supply chains...even domestic ones...are not secure. Equipment is being infected prior to arrival and unknowingly installed inside the network & firewalls without anyone the wiser.

According to KrebsOnSecurity.com, the company does not think that the intruders got any information that would enable them to gain access to a customer system or that any of the compromised computers have been connected to a customer system.

A firm that provides software and services for power companies got hacked with no indication that their customers were impacted. That hardly constitutes control of US power grid.

Cool topic, but not much of a story.

Originally posted by CIAGypsy

Cybercriminals have opened a new front in their battle to infect computers with malware - PC production lines.

Several new computers have been found carrying malware installed in the factory, suggests a Microsoft study

They can infect anything with a circuit board that may get connected to a network - copiers, scanners, cameras, keyboard, mouse, you name it.....

But, again, if the computers aren't on a network that can connect to the outside world, putting malware on a board doesn't do much, since it can't be controlled. Yes, it might be able to spread through the network and crash everything, but that is a pretty long shot, given that the hacker would have little to no knowledge about what the network consisted of, and it could be caught and contained along the line.

Oh, and how about a policy that says "critical systems cannot contain computers made in China"? That one seems pretty obvious

Right when you think about Nuclear facilities already aging and in need of upgrades it goes far beyond just shutting off the lights and water.

Originally posted by adjensen
Here's an "unhackable firewall":

Why critical computers that control things like air traffic control or the power grid are on networks that are connected to the Internet boggles the mind. If they need to be on a WAN, make it a private one that only connects to the outside world through a sneaker-net.

there's the topic we should do.. are we as a nation too reliant on technology,, PERFECT U2U me on it let's get it goin

A lot of utility companies are still using computers back from the late 80's and 90's as well to run the in house stuff.