Much of our knowledge and infrastructure including electrical power is available for plundering
The Internet-connected world has enabled instant (or at least really fast) connections for up/down load of information. We already hear that operating systems, software programs, and even storage are things of the past with everything being done via cloud computing/storage. This concerns me because much of our knowledge and infrastructure, including electrical power, is available for plundering.
Richard Clarke, a national security advisor to several Presidents, gives some accounts of what is wrong with our government in these matters and talks about how unprepared we are for cyber warfare in his book Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It. He says, “If you have a mental image of every interesting lab, company, and research facility in the US being systematically vacuum-cleaned by some foreign entity, you’ve got it right. Much of our intellectual property as a nation has been copied and sent overseas.”
Clarke says a cyber attack could disable trains, blow up pipelines, and cause blackouts and damage electrical power grids so that blackouts would go on for a long time. That could wipe out and create havoc for financial records. The power grids are identified as one of the three most important and vulnerable U.S. targets, the other two being the defense department’s IT infrastructure and private telecommunications backbone networks.
Sometimes I think these military-thinking people are just a little too paranoid, but I also think we do need to listen and research, if not act, on what they say. For example, Clarke says we should look at what China has done with its “Great Firewall.” Most of us think this is to keep the porn and liberal thinking out of China. It probably does do that, but in the event of a cyber war, China can quickly pull the plug and disconnect from the world to defend itself. Not a bad idea for any industrialized country. The U.S. needs to be able to shut off cyber connectivity to the rest of the world or spot attacks coming from within our geographical boundaries. Where this becomes critical is defending power-grid control rooms, especially with the advent of the smart grid. The upcoming Smart-Grid Forum in San Jose (http://smartgrid.darnell.com) will offer a plenary session that talks about “Security in the evolving Smart Grid: What does it mean for your business,” as well as a session on “Breakthrough in video equalizers extends the reach of security systems for the Smart Grid.” This is a good start.
There are reports that would-be saboteurs have already attempted to disrupt the security of the electrical power supply in the U.S. These reports have added urgency to the need for cyber security for the emerging smart grid. As a result, one key condition for the smart-grid funding available last year under the federal stimulus program was that the awardees incorporate strong security into their smart-grid initiatives. The threat and these funding requirements will drive major investments in smart-grid cyber security over the next several years, according to a recent report from Pike Research (www.pikeresearch.com/category/research/smart-energy). The firm estimates that cyber security spending will represent approximately 15% of total smart-grid capital investment between now and 2015. Cumulative investment in the security sector will reach $21 billion between 2010 and 2015, with annual revenue for security vendors reaching $3.7 billion by 2015. North America’s share of the market in that year is projected at $1.5 billion. We need to take advantage of the federal funding to help keep the pajama-clad living room cyber warriors at bay, and keep our electric grids safe and smart.
Paul O’Shea
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