FC: Hackers penetrated California electricity computers, from LA Times

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.latimes.com/news/front/20010609/t000047994.html

   Saturday, June 9, 2001 
   Hackers Victimize Cal-ISO
   By DAN MORAIN, Times Staff Writer
   
        SACRAMENTO--For at least 17 days at the height of
   the energy crisis, hackers mounted an attack on a computer system that
   is integral to the movement of electricity throughout California, a
   confidential report obtained by The Times shows.
        The hackers' success, though apparently limited, brought to light
   lapses in computer security at the target of the cyber-attack, the
   California Independent System Operator, which oversees most of the
   state's massive electricity transmission grid.
        Officials at Cal-ISO say that the lapses have been corrected and
   that there was no threat to the grid. But others familiar with the
   attack say hackers came close to gaining access to key parts of the
   system, and could have seriously disrupted the movement of electricity
   across the state.

   [...]

        The attackers focused on parts of the grid agency's computer
   system that are under development. In what may have been the most
   significant lapse, the system being developed was not behind a
   firewall, a security element designed to keep out those who are not
   entitled to access.

   [...]



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