Cyberspies Penetrate U.S. Power Grid

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/08/cyberspies-penetrate-power-grid-leave-software-disrupt/

The U.S. has uncovered evidence that cyberspies, most likely from China and Russia, have penetrated the U.S. power grid and left behind software that could be activated to disrupt American infrastructure, FOX News confirmed Wednesday.

The "intrusions," first reported by The Wall Street Journal, have occurred over a period of time, one U.S. official said -- not all at once.

The breaches are "something we're concerned about," a U.S. official told FOX News.

The concern is that any software could be activated at a later date to disrupt critical systems.

The intrusions were not just limited to the electrical power grid, but affected systems like water and sewage.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said in a written statement that President Obama takes the issue of cyber security "very seriously," but that the administration is not aware of any "disruptions" to the power grid.

"Cyber attacks are made all the time, however, industry continuously looks for and mitigates against such attacks and we are not aware of any disruptions to the power grid caused by deliberate cyber activity here in the United States," he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the same, but would not comment on the apparent "intrusions" committed by cyberspies. She said the government has known about the vulnerability of the system for years.

"Nonetheless, we remain in constant protection, prevention, education, resiliency mode and we work with the utility sector in particular on that," she said.

The motivation for the breaches is not well understood, and while the electronic trail appears to lead to China and Russia, it is not clear whether these actions were state-sponsored.

The Washington embassies of China and Russia deny involvement.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the espionage appeared pervasive across the country and did not target any particular region or company.

The intrusions were in many cases detected by U.S. intelligence agencies, not the companies, officials told the Journal.

"If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on," one official told the Journal.
 

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Granholm admits adversaries capable of shutting down US power grids


Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday admitted that U.S. adversaries currently have the capability to shut down U.S. power grids with cyberattacks.


CNN's "State of the Union" anchor Jake Tapper asked Granholm whether she believed that U.S. adversaries pose a potential threat to U.S. power grids, prompting Granholm to respond, "Yeah, they do."


"I think that there are very malign actors who are trying even as we speak. There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally," Granholm said. "The meat plant, for example. It's happening all the time. This is why the private sector and the public sector have to work together and this is what the president is doing."


Granholm went on to say President Biden is working with U.S. allies and countries across the world, including Russia, to prevent future cyberattacks.


"The president has issued these executive orders to make sure that our own house is in order, making sure that citizens are able to protect themselves. My mother who is 86 years old two weeks ago got a cyber -- not ransomware, but was hacked," Granholm said. "The bottom line is, we have all got to up our game with respect to our cyberdefenses. the president is doing that."


"Whether you're private or public sector, you shouldn't be paying ransomware attacks because it only encourages the bad guys," Granholm concluded.


Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also weighed in on the threat of cyberattacks in the United States targeting food and gas during an interview on ABC's "This Week," saying they are "here to stay and will intensify" in the future.


It was reported this past week that the Biden administration's Department of Justice had made it a "key priority" to target the "expediential growth of ransomware" following the cyberattack against the Colonial pipeline last month, which caused a spike in gas prices and temporary fuel shortages. Colonial ended up paying $5 million in ransom funds to DarkSide, a criminal group based in Russia in order to regain access to their system.

"A central goal of the recently launched Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force is to ensure we bring to bear the full authorities and resources of the Department in confronting the many dimensions and root causes of this threat," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco wrote in a memo obtained by Fox News Thursday.


The White House recently said that Biden will meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin later this month at the Geneva Summit and will address the increase in Russia-based cybercrimes.

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