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CIA - Cyberattacks blacked out cities

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FYI…

- http://www.informationweek.com/shared/prin…cleID=205901631
Jan. 18, 2008 - "The CIA on Friday admitted that cyberattacks have caused at least one power outage affecting multiple cities outside the United States. Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, said that CIA senior analyst Tom Donahue confirmed that online attackers had caused at least one blackout. The disclosure was made at a New Orleans security conference Friday attended by international government officials, engineers, and security managers from North American energy companies and utilities. Paller said that Donahue presented him with a written statement that read, "We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands. We suspect, but cannot confirm, that some of these attackers had the benefit of inside knowledge. We have information that cyberattacks have been used to disrupt power equipment in several regions outside the United States. In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet." Information about which foreign cities were affected by the outage and other information related to the attack was not mentioned and is unlikely to be forthcoming, said Paller. A call to the CIA asking for further comment was not immediately returned… The prospect of cyberattacks crippling multicity regions appears to have prompted the government to make this information public…"

- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=3867
Last Updated: 2008-01-19 03:16:11 UTC

- http://www.sans.org/newsletters/newsbites/…=10&issue=5

:ph34r:
More on this…

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCADA
Last modified 20 January 2008 - "…Due to the mission-critical nature of a large number of SCADA systems, such attacks could, in a worst case scenario, cause massive financial losses through loss of data or actual physical destruction, misuse or theft, even loss of life, either directly or indirectly. Whether such concerns will cause a move away from the use of existing SCADA systems for mission-critical applications towards more secure architectures and configurations remains to be seen, given that at least some influential people in corporate and governmental circles believe that the benefits and lower initial costs of SCADA based systems still outweigh potential costs and risks.."

:ph34r:
FYI…

- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1201479636…=googlenews_wsj
Jan. 28, 2008 WASHINGTON - "President Bush has promised a frugal budget proposal next month, but one big-ticket item is stirring controversy: an estimated $6 billion to build a secretive system protecting U.S. communication networks from attacks by terrorists, spies and hackers. Administration officials and lawmakers say that the prospect of cyberterrorists hacking into a nuclear-power plant or paralyzing Wall Street is becoming possible, and that the U.S. isn't prepared. This is "one area where we have significant work to do," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a recent interview…"

:popcorn: