A Cyber Event Interrupted US Power Grid Operations

Stories – and only stories – abound about whether the Ruskies have infiltrated the US power grid – years ago.  The government is not going to tell the truth for fear of scaring the crap out of people.

On March 5th a “cyber event” interrupted the power grid in parts of the western United States.  While in this case it did not cause blackouts ….

California,  Utah. Wyoming.

A cyber event, according to the DOE, involves unauthorized access  to hardware, software or data.  Who?  Not clear.  What?  Not clear.  Why? Not clear.

But …. not a good sign.

The incident lasted from 7 AM to 9 PM that day.  That is a long time.

The DOE did not respond to a request for information.

The Western Electricity Coordinating Council declined to comment.

For security reasons we cannot disclose any further information was the only comment.

So, while this time we averted disaster, that doesn’t mean we will next time.

Was this a test?  To see how the grid responded?  To test a capability?  Kind of like pulling the fire alarm to see how long it takes for the fire department to arrive.

I suspect that, whatever happened, the feds will *TRY* to fix the problem.   But the feds do not have a great track record.

Now might be a good time to buy a generator.

Consider your own cybersecurity  program.

And your disaster recovery/business continuity program.

If you are not familiar with this song in the movie Hoodwinked, it is entertaining and relevent.  Source: Environment & Energy News.

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