The Whine thread.

[CX]

Hybrids are the top producers of smug anyway, you're better off without one.

[blacknblue]

Just when you thought the bad guys couldn't do any worse...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/26/power. ... index.html

<quote>
Sources: Staged cyber attack reveals vulnerability in power grid

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Researchers who launched an experimental cyber attack caused a generator to self-destruct, alarming the federal government and electrical industry about what might happen if such an attack were carried out on a larger scale, CNN has learned.

Department of Homeland Security video shows a generator spewing smoke after a staged experiment.

Sources familiar with the experiment said the same attack scenario could be used against huge generators that produce the country's electric power.

Some experts fear bigger, coordinated attacks could cause widespread damage to electric infrastructure that could take months to fix.

CNN has honored a request from the Department of Homeland Security not to divulge certain details about the experiment, dubbed "Aurora," and conducted in March at the Department of Energy's Idaho lab

In a previously classified video of the test CNN obtained, the generator shakes and smokes, and then stops.

DHS acknowledged the experiment involved controlled hacking into a replica of a power plant's control system. Sources familiar with the test said researchers changed the operating cycle of the generator, sending it out of control.

The White House was briefed on the experiment, and DHS officials said they have since been working with the electric industry to devise a way to thwart such an attack.

"I can't say it [the vulnerability] has been eliminated. But I can say a lot of risk has been taken off the table," said Robert Jamison, acting undersecretary of DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate.

Government sources said changes are being made to both computer software and physical hardware to protect power generating equipment. And the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it is conducting inspections to ensure all nuclear plants have made the fix.

Industry experts also said the experiment shows large electric systems are vulnerable in ways not previously demonstrated.

"What people had assumed in the past is the worst thing you can do is shut things down. And that's not necessarily the case. A lot of times the worst thing you can do, for example, is open a valve -- have bad things spew out of a valve," said Joe Weiss of Applied Control Solutions.

"The point is, it allows you to take control of these very large, very critical pieces of equipment and you can have them do what you want them to do," he said.

Adding to the vulnerability of control systems, many of them are manufactured and used overseas. Persons at manufacturing plants overseas have access to control system schematics and even software program passwords, industry experts say.

Weiss and others hypothesize that multiple, simultaneous cyber-attacks on key electric facilities could knock out power to a large geographic area for months, harming the nation's economy.

"For about $5 million and between three to five years of preparation, an organization, whether it be transnational terrorist groups or nation states, could mount a strategic attack against the United States," said O. Sami Saydjari of the nonprofit Professionals for Cyber Defense...

------snip----


</quote>

[dialee]

Sorry to say that the problem has been know for decades and was exacerbated by nuclear control room trying to go digital with the new instrumentation and control designs. The industry has been trying to incorporate security protocols along with the tech however...

The NRC have really been looking for people in this area of expertise. So if you know anyone who would lke a challenge?

[CX]

I wished I was smart enough to help but, but I'm afraid that I know just enough to get into trouble.

I hope they're able to come up with better security measures, because China is starting to make itself a problem with its cyber-hackers, more so than I think the government has admitted. Another problem is their ability to disrupt communications, effectively cutting our ships at sea, planes in the air, and ground units off from their command and control. I cringe at what could be done if China ever decided to attack in concert with pulling something off like that. Even our nukes would be useless because they wouldn't be able to get a command to launch.

[Linda]

That is part of the reason we should keep the LORAN navigation system which depends on ground stations, rather than dismantle it and just use GPS. I am keeping my LORAN unit on my boat in addition to the GPS, since the boat is used for search and rescue.

[TPoptarts]

Gah see what I mean about the sexually objectifying stuff. Like some dude posted this comment in response to a video of me on YouTube:

damn, you are fucking hot...
if i got you naked you'd have to keep the ears on

Like why in all hells is that supposed to be like an acceptable way to talk to someone?? And why do so many girls feel flattered when someone talks to them like that??

Well that comment goes bye bye because I did say in the video details

Flames or sexually objectifying comments (even if meant as "compliments") will be deleted.

[Entilzha]

That was probably some wacko. But then again around 90% of the population has some kind of mental disorder.

[Distracted]

Or maybe he was just a perfectly normal teenage male warm for her form and lacking the social skills to express his feelings in a socially acceptable fashion. I seem to remember a certain young man on HoT using a term I found offensive and then indignantly claiming that it was meant as a compliment. Sometimes I really think that some young people completely lack an edit function between brain and mouth...or in this case, keyboard. (Males especially for some reason, but my 15 year old daughter is frequently guilty of it, too. Maybe it's a maturity issue. )

[TPoptarts]

He's 27.

[Distracted]

Okay... so how do you know that? (And I'd stay away from anyone that age who's coming on to someone as young-looking as you are. The guy could be a pedophile.)

[TSara]

Hybrids are the top producers of smug anyway, you're better off without one.

Why not look into getting a car that's been converted into a bio-diesel Emberchyld??

I've driven a hybrid before......I loved it....but CX is right the energy used to produce the darn thing almost isn't worth it.

[TPoptarts]

Okay... so how do you know that? (And I'd stay away from anyone that age who's coming on to someone as young-looking as you are. The guy could be a pedophile.)

I checked out his profile and MySpace. Well what can I say I'm a research junkie. (And no need to tell ME to stay away from someone like that. Like seriously you should know better )

[Chris]

He sounds like someone who would be on Dateline:To Catch a Predator.

[Rigil Kent]

Gah. I just spent a thousand bucks getting my damned car functional again. Let's see ... $700 for a replacement radiator and a clutch cable, $240 for 6 months of insurance, and $80 for the tag. Wish that damned thing wasn't as essential as it is...

Oh. And hey, all. Not.Dead. Just too busy to get online (prepping for the move, and school...) and not really motivated to be online...

[blacknblue]

He's ALIVE!

IT'S A MIRACLE! SOMEBODY GIVE ME AN AMEN!




(Now, if we can just get him to write something.)