Re: Did Sean Gorman's maps show the cascading vulnerability in Ohio?

[Scott McGrath <mcgrath () fas harvard edu>]

A measured response is needed.  Obviosly we do not want the
vulnerabilities disclosed to bored teenagers looking for "excitement".
We need controlled access to this data so that those of us who need the
data to fix vulnerabilities can gain access to it but access is denied to
people without a legitimate need for the data.

The "Dig Safe" program might be a good model for controlling access to
Sean's work.   This would not preclude further scholarship on Sean's work
but it would keep the data out of the hands of the 31337 crowd.


                            Scott C. McGrath

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003, Sean Donelan wrote:

> So, the US Government wants to classify Sean Gorman's student project.
> The question is did Mr. Gorman's maps divulge the vulnerability in the
> East Coast power grid that resulted in the blackouts this week?
>
> Would it be better to know about these vulnerabilities, and do something
> about them; or is it better to keep them secret until they fail in a
> catastrophic way?