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Power Grid Insecurities Examined
Joe Barr writes "Chris Gulker has taken a long and careful look at the infrastructure of our power grids and has come to some rather unsettling conclusions." A good read that outlines where the current power grid is at, and suggests some paths for the future that may help avoid future blackouts.
Did anyone actually read this garbage before they posted it. This is absolute nonsense. The blackout had _nothing_ to do with computers, much less internet security. The blackout happened because a half-rate utility (First Energy) tried to squeak through an emergency without buying expensive power or shedding load. Period. They operated lines until the sagged into brush. Some small subtransmission and distribution lines had twice rated load. Do the math. That's four times the temperature or over 400C. That had zippo to do with M$ or any bleepin' computer.
I have taken myself off the grid years ago,using Solar,Wind,Hydro power(tapped into the abandoned Hardburly Deep mine and using the water to generate power) and have a 20kw diesel generator for backup.
Most of the power grid problem stems from the fact that very little maintainence is being done.The Power lines out here have been here since the late 1950s or early 1960. Every time it rains,you can watch an electricial light show less than 50 ft from my home.(Phone calls to the power co.does no good,so I informed the Public Service Comission about it,sending a video tape of the light show.AEP now has 10 days to change the lines out or get fined to the tune of $50k/day!)
Greedy utilities have brought this on themselves.Cutting jobs for the maintainence personell,doing nothing about aging lines, and then asking "WHY is this happening?
"We call ourselves Homo Sapiens Spaiens.Our true name should be Home Stupidus"
Geek Hillbilly
power plants worked long before the internet was created. no important computer controlling very important things should ever be put on the internet.
Network connections != internet connections. Current power systems have network connections since it is kind of nice to be able to monitor it from time to time. They typically run over fiber rings independent from the power grid itself.
The world is neither black nor white nor good nor evil, only many shades of CowboyNeal.
The auto-checkout lanes at QFC and Safeway here in WA state are Linux. :)
Now for those who read that article, here's a reality check.
I worked on one of the Y2K project teams that did high-level analysis for a number of midwestern power plants.
I can tell you that NONE of their control and monitoring systems were in any way connected to the Internet or even, usually, to any other networks internally.
The reason cited in every case was security.
The folks I worked with are called EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) and they are widely regarded as the world's leading authority on national and international power generation and distribution systems.
Check out their website, they often have some interesting white-papers available for public perusal.