China Denies Role In US Grid Hacks

Slatterz writes "The Chinese government is denying any involvement in the reported infiltration of US electric grid systems. Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu as saying that any sort of involvement from China in the incident 'doesn't exist at all.' The denial follows a report in the Wall Street Journal which claimed that agents from China and Russia along with several other countries had infiltrated the computer systems charged with managing electricity in the US and left behind software payloads which could be used to control or disable electric grids in the US." Bruce Schneier is skeptical about the whole story.

Comments

Two schools of thought here:

[slimjim8094]

Either they did it and aren't telling (would we?) or these are simple hackers like in Russia, the Ukraine, or even here. Or they're part of the mob.

This assumption that it must have been committed by the government is unfounded; though I would not be surprised at all. Wouldn't we if we got the shot?

Re:Two schools of thought here:

[toQDuj]

Perhaps it's just a case of the US energy grid getting old and crappy, and someone else needing a scapegoat for the trouble to come.

B.

i know ill get bitched at for this

[nimbius]

but could it be possible that for once, we're not under constant attack from enemy nations and have nothing to really fear?
the last time we cringed in terror at another country as a pretext for invasion, it turned out they were guilty of a lot less than we
originally conjectured.

if china were hacking into our powerplants and infrastructure, what purpose would it seriously serve? china manufactures a bulk of american goods, and holds a bulk of american debt.
we are an economic interest, so one could argue harm to us is harm to china.

Re:i know ill get bitched at for this

[emocomputerjock]

Are you honestly asking what purpose does technological dominance serve? Do you think any nation would turn down the ability to flip the switch on another country, regardless of the status of relations between the two?

Re:i know ill get bitched at for this

[izomiac]

and holds a bulk of american debt. we are an economic interest, so one could argue harm to us is harm to china.

Well, apparently China holds 1/16th of the national debt, which is essentially what Japan has as well, so I wouldn't call that the bulk. OTOH, if they did hold the bulk of the US debt, debt as a deterrent isn't that great an idea. Or at least it didn't end well for the Knights Templar...

the solution is ..

[viralMeme]

The solution is to take computer systems charged with managing electricity off the Internet

Re:the solution is ..

[IP_Troll]

it really isn't a realistic or technically feasible.

Either you missed the point of the OP or are ignoring it on purpose. There is no reason for the power grid to be on the consumer internet and you cited none.

The power grid was designed before the internet.

The controls you described to switch power between providers already exist. There is not a human being flipping switches at every substation with "walkie talkies", there is already an automated system to switch power which is completely independent from the internet. If you want to upgrade this already existing network to include modern hardware, do not connect it with the internet.

You are acting like it is impossible to create a network of computers without WWW access. The power grid doesn't need twitter, or even a GUI interface, it just needs to send simple signals between embedded systems. transmitting signals between embedded systems can be accomplished without connecting the power grid to facebook.

Re:"along with several other countries"

[furby076]

If Israel hacked the US grid they are most likely getting paid by the US to show the US where the weak-points are. This is not unheard of. Israel is very good with technology and network security. But Israel really doesn't work with Russia, Russia hates Israel - largely due to the fact Israel supported the US during the cold-war against Russia.

FUD

[omar.sahal]

"intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure"

but

"U.S. intelligence agencies"

Officials cautioned that the motivation of the cyberspies wasn't well understood
Officials are the ones making the accusations

China, for example, has little incentive to disrupt the U.S. economy because it relies on American consumers and holds U.S. government debt.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Wang Baodong said..

"some people overseas with Cold War mentality are indulged in fabricating the sheer lies of the so-called cyberspies in China."

As Bruce Schneier said which one of these power outages is by hackers
I just hope this isn't some cover for the US to do what their accusing others of, why else this line below...

Congress approved $17 billion in secret funds to protect government networks