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Friday, March 05, 2004 |
 SCADA vs. hackers. How the power control infrastructure of the US (and likely globally) is easy to attack.
Utilities responding to deregulation and corporations seeking higher productivity replaced employees with automated control systems at substations, pipeline switches, and plants.
They installed SCADA systems to control remote facilities. Unfortunately, these systems are unable to handle robust security:
Because field devices used by utility and business control systems are designed to do specific tasks, they use inexpensive, low-cost microprocessors. Some electrical industry devices in use contain the Intel 8088 processor, introduced in 1978.
This is already known:
The same SCADA systems that are used to manage the U.S. power grid also control the grids in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Iran. So it should come as no surprise that SCADA documents turned up in al Qaeda safe houses in Afghanistan.
9:10:35 AM 
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While maps don't show nuclear power plants, online satellite systems do. Here is an eyeball (closer) of the Pilgrim plant in Plymouth MA. It provides 13% of MA power needs.
8:54:40 AM
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An oldie but goodie in Wired: Corporate Mercenaries.
DynCorp represents nothing less than the future of national security. While outfits like Raytheon make their money developing weapons systems, DynCorp offers the military an alternative to itself. In 2002, the company took in $2.3 billion doing what you probably thought was Pentagon work.
8:44:00 AM
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Iraqi oil production, although at prewar peaks isn't being shipped due to sabotage.
Iraq is reinjecting as much as 400,000 barrels a day of Kirkuk crude back into reservoirs because it cannot export the oil. Exports are restricted to the south and now are running near 1.6 million bpd.
8:10:46 AM
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The WP reports on an infrastructure attack in Iraq:
A saboteur on Wednesday fired three rockets at a state-of-the-art Baghdad telephone exchange that engineers for the U.S.-led occupation took eight months and $50 million to install. The attack killed one worker and wounded another, and knocked out international phone service.
Smart. As a learning organization, al Qaeda will eventually stumble onto the correct strategy.
7:53:33 AM
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The neo-Victorians (its funny how this type of movement always pops up at the end of an empire) are on a roll. The WSJ reports on how Congress is going to get rid of Stern:
Meanwhile, a House subcommittee this week overwhelmingly passed a bill that would sharply increase the FCC's maximum indecency fine to $500,000 per incident, from the current $27,500, for each station and would include a "three strikes and you're out" provision that would revoke radio- and TV-station licenses for three offenses.
7:36:17 AM
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© Copyright 2004 John Robb.
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