The Down Range Forum

Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: twyacht on March 21, 2010, 09:21:37 PM

Title: Thank You China.
Post by: twyacht on March 21, 2010, 09:21:37 PM
As I have posted before, this Nation has vulnerabilities in its power grid. Lone sub-stations, off country roads, guarded with nothing more than a 6 ft. fence, could be a target and render large portions of this country powerless, including millions of people.

No lights, ATM's, restaurants, traffic signals, home appliances, etc,.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/asia/21grid.html

Academic Paper in China Sets Off Alarms in U.S.

Du Bin for The New York Times

A Chinese student, Wang Jianwei, above, and his professor, wrote an academic paper on the vulnerability of the American power grid to a computer attack. Scientists said the paper was merely a technical exercise.
By JOHN MARKOFF and DAVID BARBOZA
Published: March 20, 2010

It came as a surprise this month to Wang Jianwei, a graduate engineering student in Liaoning, China, that he had been described as a potential cyberwarrior before the United States Congress.
Ken Cedeno for The New York Times

Larry M. Wortzel, a military strategist, recently drew attention to the paper.

Larry M. Wortzel, a military strategist and China specialist, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 10 that it should be concerned because “Chinese researchers at the Institute of Systems Engineering of Dalian University of Technology published a paper on how to attack a small U.S. power grid sub-network in a way that would cause a cascading failure of the entire U.S.”

When reached by telephone, Mr. Wang said he and his professor had indeed published “Cascade-Based Attack Vulnerability on the U.S. Power Grid” in an international journal called Safety Science last spring. But Mr. Wang said he had simply been trying to find ways to enhance the stability of power grids by exploring potential vulnerabilities.

***

Gee, I wonder what Janet "from another planet" Napolitano, our Homeland Security chief, is doing....




Title: Re: Thank You China.
Post by: fightingquaker13 on March 21, 2010, 09:35:24 PM

Gee, I wonder what Janet "from another planet" Napolitano, our Homeland Security chief, is doing....





Probably a lot less than Jianwei. At least he gave us a heads up, which is a damn sight better than the "head in ass" we've been getting from our last couple of Homeland Chiefs. I wonder if this guy needs a job?
FQ13
Title: Re: Thank You China.
Post by: garand4life on March 21, 2010, 10:43:37 PM
Well in the past I've heard of agencies who specialize in hardening homes hiring former thieves to find weaknesses that could be exploited. So I guess Homeland Insecurity could take the hint and hire this guy. At least if he's working for us, it's less likely he would work against us.