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By Jesse Berst

 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says cyber attacks on critical infrastructure jumped to 86 from 11 events the same period a year ago, according to the New York Times. For both years, the attacks were reported during a five-month period from October to February.

 

The attacks were part of a spike in hacking overall. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano went so far as to compare it to the months before the 9/11 attacks, when "there were all kinds of information out there that a catastrophic attack was looming." Napolitano said "the information on a cyber attack is at that same frequency and intensity and is bubbling at the same level, and we should not wait for an attack in order to do something."

 

James A. Lewis, a senior fellow and a specialist in computer security issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies claimed the U.S. is "still at rock bottom. We were vulnerable before and now we’re just more vulnerable. You can destroy physical infrastructure with a cyber attack just like you could with a bomb.”

 

The Obama Administration is pressing Congress give the federal government greater authority to enforce minimum security standards on companies that run the nation’s infrastructure. At a closed-door briefing last week, several dozen senators were shown how a power company employee could derail the New York City electrical grid by clicking on an e-mail attachment sent by a hacker. DHS believes an attack during a heat wave could have a cascading impact that would lead to deaths and cost billions of dollars.

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Jesse Berst is the founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com. He consults to smart grid companies seeking market entry advice and M&A advisory. A frequent keynoter at industry events in the US and abroad, he also serves on the Advisory Council of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Energy & Environment directorate.

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Current Comments (2)

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Cyber Attacks on Utilities

Jesse Do you know how a cyber attack was defined for this analysis? In informal conversations with utilities, I get the impression that a utility typically sees similar volumes of hacking attempts per day, or even more often; virtually all are unsuccessful.

Merwin Brown - 03/15/2012 - 08:30

cyber security

I think an important point is to note the truly lax security existing in the highest echelons of government. The closed door meeting of key Senators and the Administration was obviously compromised as sensitive details now are available on the Internet. This is similar to DHS ststements about the electric rid vulnerability a few years ago. That was just before the DHS Cyber Scurity chief left to become CEO of a cyber security consulting firm. At a closed-door briefing, the senators were shown how a power company employee could derail the New York City electrical grid by clicking on an e-mail attachment sent by a hacker, and how an attack during a heat wave could have a cascading impact that would lead to deaths and cost the nation billions of dollars.

Jeff Williams - 03/15/2012 - 11:32

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