U.S. Electric Grid Hacked?

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the power grids in the United States have been penetrated and that potentially software could have been left behind that lets hackers control the power grid. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke to reporters after the Wall Street Journal article that the government had known about the vulnerability but declined to comment on whether software has been left behind by the cyberspies. The successful hacking attempts appear to have originated in China and Russia although their embassies here in the states deny any involvement.

The Chinese have been known for years to penetrate U.S. Universities and Government websites so the Journal reports, according to a U.S. security official on the condition of anonymity, it is no surprise that the power grid has been target. Some report the hackers may wait to damage the system when the right time comes, perhaps during conflicts. President Barak Obama has ordered a top to bottom review of the cyber infrastructure in the U.S. because of his concern over vulnerabilities in the system.

The Department of Homeland Security works with industries to develop strategic plans to address external and internal threats to the infrastructure. Tom Donahue, a CIA analyst, spoke to a power-industry conference last year about regions outside the U.S. that had been penetrated and then extortion attempts were levied against them.

Keep your computers as secure as possible:

1. Keep antivirus applications updated, automatically is the preferred setting.
2. Install and update spyware and adware applications.
3. Keep a firewall up and running and keep it updated if applicable.
4. Do not visit unknown or suspicious websites.
5. Do not open unknown emails or much more dangerous, visit the links in emails.