[IP] Hackers Target U.S. Power Grid
------ Forwarded Message
From: Gregg Schudel <gschudel@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 17:05:12 -0500
To: PCD Discussion Forum <Cyberwar@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [PCD Discussion] Hackers Target U.S. Power Grid
Interesting...
Nice "Sami" reference!
Gregg
> ------------------------------------
> *Hackers Target U.S. Power Grid
>
> *Fri Mar 11, 3:06 AM ET
> Technology - washingtonpost.com
>
> By Justin Blum, Washington Post Staff Writer
>
> Hundreds of times a day, hackers try to slip past cyber-security into
> the computer network of Constellation Energy Group Inc., a Baltimore
> power company with customers around the country.
>
> "We have no discernable way of knowing who is trying to hit our
> system," said John R. Collins, chief risk officer for Constellation,
> which operates Baltimore Gas and Electric. "We just know it's being hit."
>
> Hackers have caused no serious damage to systems that feed the
> nation's power grid, but their untiring efforts have heightened
> concerns that electric companies have failed to adequately fortify
> defenses against a potential catastrophic strike. The fear: In a
> worst-case scenario, terrorists or others could engineer an attack
> that sets off a widespread blackout and damages power plants,
> prolonging an outage.
>
> Patrick H. Wood III, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory
> Commission (news - web sites), warned top electric company officials
> in a private meeting in January that they need to focus more heavily
> on cyber-security. Wood also has raised the issue at several public
> appearances. Officials will not say whether new intelligence points to
> a potential terrorist strike, but Wood stepped up his campaign after
> officials at the Energy Department's Idaho National Laboratory showed
> him how a skilled hacker could cause serious problems.
>
> Wood declined to comment on specifics of what he saw. But an official
> at the lab, Ken Watts, said the simulation showed how someone could
> hack into a utility's Internet-based business management system, then
> into a system that controls utility operations. Once inside, lab
> workers simulated cutting off the supply of oil to a turbine
> generating electricity and destroying the equipment.
>
> Describing his reaction to the demonstration, Wood said: "I wished I'd
> had a diaper on."
>
> Many electric industry representatives have said they are concerned
> about cyber-security and have been taking steps to make sure their
> systems are protected. But Wood and others in the industry said the
> companies' computer security is uneven.
>
> "A sophisticated hacker, which is probably a group of hackers . . .
> could probably get into each of the three U.S. North American power
> [networks] and could probably bring sections of it down if they knew
> how to do it," said Richard A. Clarke, a former counterterrorism chief
> in the Clinton and Bush administrations.
>
> Clarke said government simulations show that electric companies have
> not done enough to prevent hacking. "Every time they test, they get
> in," Clarke said. "It's nice that the power companies think that
> they've done things, and some of them have. But as long as there's a
> way to get into the grid, the grid is as weak as its weakest company."
>
> Some industry analysts play down the threat of a massive cyber-attack,
> saying it's more likely that terrorists would target the physical
> infrastructure such as power plants and transmission lines. James
> Andrew Lewis, director of technology policy at the Center for
> Strategic and International Studies in the District, said a
> coordinated attack on the grid would be technically difficult and
> would not provide as much "bang for the buck" as high-profile physical
> attacks. Lewis said the bigger vulnerability may be posed not by
> outside hackers but by insiders who are familiar with their company's
> computer networks.
>
> But in recent years, terrorists have expressed interest in a range of
> computer targets. Al Qaeda documents from 2002 suggest cyber-attacks
> on various targets, including the electrical grid and financial
> institutions, according to a translation by the IntelCenter, an
> Alexandria firm that studies terrorist groups.
>
> A government advisory panel has concluded that a foreign intelligence
> service or a well-supported terrorist group "could conduct a
> structured attack on the electric power grid electronically, with a
> high degree of anonymity, and without having to set foot in the target
> nation," according to a report last year by the Government
> Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
>
> Cyber-security specialists and government officials said that
> cyber-attacks are a concern across many industries but that the threat
> to the country's power supply is among their top fears.
>
> Hackers have gained access to U.S. utilities' electronic control
> systems and in a few cases have "caused an impact," said Joseph M.
> Weiss, a Cupertino, Calif.-based computer security specialist with
> Kema Inc., a consulting firm focused on the energy industry. He said
> computer viruses and worms also have caused problems.
>
> Weiss, a leading expert in control system security, said officials of
> the affected companies have described the instances at private
> conferences that he hosts and in confidential conversations but have
> not reported the intrusions publicly or to federal authorities. He
> said he agreed not to publicly disclose additional details and that
> the companies are fearful that releasing the information would hurt
> them financially and encourage more hacking.
>
> Weiss said that "many utilities have not addressed control system
> cyber-security as comprehensively as physical security or
> cyber-security of business networks."
>
> The vulnerability of the nation's electrical grid to computer attack
> has grown as power companies have transferred control of their
> electrical generation and distribution equipment from private,
> internal networks to supervisory control and data acquisition, or
> SCADA, systems that can be accessed through the Internet or by phone
> lines, according to consultants and government reports. That
> technology has led to greater efficiency because it allows workers to
> operate equipment remotely.
>
>
>
> Other systems that feed information into SCADA or that operate utility
> equipment are vulnerable and have been largely overlooked by
> utilities, security consultants said.
>
> Some utilities have made hacking into their SCADA systems relatively
> easy by continuing to use factory-set passwords that can be found in
> standard documentation available on the Internet, computer security
> consultants said.
>
> The North American Electric Reliability Council, an industry-backed
> organization that sets voluntary standards for power companies, is
> drafting wide-ranging guidelines to replace more narrow, temporary
> precautions already on the books for guarding against a cyber-attack.
> But computer security specialists question whether those standards go
> far enough.
>
> Officials at several power companies said they had invested heavily in
> new equipment and software to protect their computers. Many would
> speak only in general terms, saying divulging specifics could assist
> hackers.
>
> "We're very concerned about it," said Margaret E. "Lyn" McDermid,
> senior vice president and chief information officer for Dominion
> Resources Inc., a Richmond-based company that operates Dominion
> Virginia Power and supplies electricity and natural gas in other
> states. "We spend a significant amount of time and effort in making
> sure we are doing what we ought to do."
>
> Executives at Constellation Energy view the constant hacking attempts
> -- which have been unsuccessful -- as a threat and monitor their
> systems closely. They said they assume many of the hackers are the
> same type seen in other businesses: people who view penetrating
> corporate systems as fun or a challenge.
>
> "We feel we are in pretty good shape when it comes to this," Collins
> said. "That doesn't mean we're bulletproof."
>
> The biggest threat to the grid, analysts said, may come from power
> companies using older equipment that is more susceptible to attack.
> Those companies many not want to invest large amounts of money in new
> computer equipment when the machines they are using are adequately
> performing all their other functions.
>
> Security consulting firms said that they have hacked into power
> company networks to highlight for their clients the weaknesses in
> their systems.
>
> "We are able to penetrate real, running, live systems," said Lori
> Dustin, vice president of marketing for Verano Inc., a Mansfield,
> Mass., company that sells products to companies to secure SCADA
> systems. In some cases, Dustin said, power companies lack basic
> equipment that would even alert them to hacking attempts.
>
> O. Sami Saydjari, chief executive of the Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-based
> consulting firm Cyber Defense Agency LLC, said hackers could cause the
> type of blackout that knocked out electricity to about 50 million
> people in the Northeast, Midwest and Canada in 2003, an event
> attributed in part to trees interfering with power lines in Ohio. He
> said that if hackers destroyed generating equipment in the process,
> the amount of time to restore electricity could be prolonged.
>
> "I am absolutely confident that by design, someone could do at least
> as [much damage], if not worse" than what was experienced in 2003,
> said Saydjari, who was one of 54 prominent scientists and others who
> warned the Bush administration of the risk of computer attacks
> following Sept. 11, 2001. "It's just a matter of time before we have a
> serious event."
>
--
Gregg Schudel CCIE#9591 Email:gschudel@xxxxxxxxx
Consulting System Engineer Phone: 703.484.5151 Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. Cell: 571.332.2222 | |
13600 Dulles Technology Dr Pager: 800.365.4578 ||| |||
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