Power grid hackers are of greater concern than influential report indicates, DHS official says

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2012/11/power-grid-hackers-are-greater-concern-influential-report-indicates-dhs-official-says/59755/

By Aliya Sternstein
Nextgov
November 27, 2012

A previously classified 2007 National Academies report on power grid 
vulnerabilities that, coincidentally, was declassified mid-November when 
many Hurricane Sandy victims remained in the dark after widespread power 
outages, stated that cyberattacks, unlike natural disasters, probably 
could not cause lengthy blackouts. But that was not true at the time nor 
is it now.

Five years later, the risk of hackers severely disrupting electricity 
service is higher, Homeland Security Department officials told Nextgov 
on Tuesday.

The Oct. 29 superstorm opened the public’s eyes to the potential for 
societal disorder during prolonged manmade or naturally caused service 
disruptions.

Concerns about cyber intrusions at electric utilities “stem from a whole 
new range of threat vectors,” Thad Odderstol, a director for Homeland 
Security’s Office of Cybersecurity and Communication, said in an 
interview. “You’ve got control systems that may have an Internet 
connection.”

[...]

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