Russian and Chinese Spies Penetrate U.S. Electrical Grid

In February, President Obama ordered a 60-day review of the nation’s cybersecurity to examine how federal agencies use technology to protect secrets and data in hopes of closing any gaps that might exist.

Two weeks ago cyberspies penetrated the U.S. electrical grid.  It is believed that the cyberspies came from China, Russia, and other countries in an attempt to take control of and navigate the U.S. electrical system.  Software tools were found that could ultimately be used to destroy infrastructure components.  It should be noted that in the past the Chinese and the Russians have attempted to map the U.S. infrastructure, such as the electrical grid.

A former Department of Homeland Security official stated that there were a lot of intrusions to electrical systems last year and they will continue to grow.  National security officials reported that malware discovered on electrical grid computer systems suggests that someone abroad could damage the system in a time of war or during a national security crisis in the United States.  Along with the nation’s power grid, nuclear power plants, water and sewage systems, and financial networks could also be disrupted.

Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a nonprofit cybersecurity research group stated, “We need continuous automated monitoring and real oversight of these critical systems and it needs to be a top priority.”

It does not appear that any attacks have taken place yet, but officials say that “terrorist groups could develop the ability to penetrate U.S. infrastructure.”

Business computer systems are less interesting to spies, but no less vulnerable- in fact, probably more vulnerable to attack. Hopefully we’ll all take this into consideration as we plan for disaster recovery and business continuity.