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CIA Hackers shut down power
to entire cities
Tom Leonard
London
Telegraph
Saturday January 26, 2008
Computer hackers have managed to shut down power
to entire cities by breaking into the systems of electricity companies
and then demanding money, a senior CIA analyst has claimed.
Tom Donahue told a utilities security conference
in New Orleans all the successful hackings occurred outside America.
He did not specify what countries were affected, when the power
cuts happened or how long they lasted.
Mr Donahue, who was speaking at the Process Control Security
Summit, later said in a statement: "We have information,
from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions
into utilities, followed by extortion demands."
(Article continues below)
He said the CIA suspected some of the cyber-attackers "had
the benefit of inside knowledge".
He added: "In at least one case, the disruption caused a
power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed
these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the
Internet."
A CIA spokesman declined to provide additional details, saying:
"The information that could be shared in a public setting
was shared. These comments were simply designed to highlight to
the audience the challenges posed by potential cyber intrusions."
The Bush administration is increasingly worried about the little-understood
risks from hackers to the specialised electronic equipment that
operates power, water and chemical plants, known as Supervisory
Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. These are increasingly
connected to the Internet.
Hackers first launched such a pattern of cyber attacks followed
by subsequent blackmail attempts against the online gambling industry
six or seven years ago.
In a test last year, the Homeland Security Department produced
a video showing commands quietly triggered by simulated hackers
having such a violent reaction that an enormous generator shudders
as it flies apart and belches black-and-white smoke.
Full
article here.
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