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Letter Re: The Fragility of the US Power Grid
James:
An article posted
on 10/16 on Internet Evolution has some sobering
thoughts on the state of network security of the US power grid. It is written
by Ira
Winkler, a former NSA analyst and current security expert. His prognosis: “the
power grid remains incredibly vulnerable.”
Keep up the good work, - MP
JWR Replies: In my writings, I often refer to the national
power grids (there
are actually three, eastern and western, and Texas) as the
lynchpins of our modern societal infrastructure. Any interruption
for more than a few weeks could precipitate a societal collapse. There is just so
much of
what we depend on for our modern way of life that is dependent on grid power.
The telephone networks have backup generators, but those only have a limited
fuel
supply.
Even the
supply
of piped natural gas is dependent on grid power, since it is used to power
the compressor stations that pressurize the natural gas pipelines. I am of
the firm opinion that existing Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition.(SCADA) software
implementations represent a great vulnerability. The new generation Web-enabled
SCADA systems only compounds the problem. (Now, terrorists don't even need
to go on-site to inject a computer virus and foul up the power and water utilities'
switching and valve hardware.
They can now do it remotely.)
