Politechan

Fresh off the introduction of what I still consider to be do little legislation, there is a report in the WSJ about the penetration of the US electrical grid and the placing of destructive tools on the systems that could be turned on during a time of crisis.

The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn’t target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. “There are intrusions, and they are growing,” the former official said, referring to electrical systems. “There were a lot last year.”

Many of the intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure but by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said. Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet.

 (You can read that last paragraph as also saying we’re doing the same thing to other countries). 

Russian and Chinese government officials pulled a Sgt. Shultz–”We know nothing!” and while those officials may actually be telling the truth it is also likely that there are people who do know something, protected by other government officials for strategic or even just simple financial reasons (bribes).  As the cybersecurity bill makes its way through the Congress expect more anecdotal stories like this to drip out.

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