By Jack Gleason ——Bio and Archives--December 8, 2022
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"For 20 minutes, gunmen methodically fired at high voltage transformers at the Metcalf Power substation. Security cameras captured bullets hitting the chain link fence…. The gunmen disappeared without a trace about a minute before a patrol car arrived. The substation was down for weeks, but fortunately PG&E had enough time to reroute power and avoid disaster." It… "could've brought down all of Silicon Valley." They never caught the perpetrators, but Wellinghoff concluded "it was somebody who did have competent people who could in fact plan out this kind of a very sophisticated attack… It was actually a very shocking result to us that there's very few number of substations you need to take out, in the entire United States, to knock out the entire grid… Less than 20."But vulnerability to gunfire isn't the most pressing concern. In October 2021, DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm in June told CNN that enemies of the United States have the capability to shut down the power grid, and "there are very malign actors trying, even as we speak." The Senate Republican Policy Committee issued a report concluding "The U.S. electric grid is vulnerable to cyberattacks that could result in catastrophic, widespread, lengthy blackouts and other loss of electrical services… Russia, North Korea, Iran, and China currently have the capability to launch cyberattacks that could disrupt critical infrastructure." The report noted, "In 2015, the insurance underwriter Lloyd's developed a scenario for an attack on part of the Eastern Interconnection, which provides power to around half of the U.S. Under the scenario, an attack targeting power generators would cause a blackout in 15 states and the District of Columbia, leaving 93 million people without power."
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"There are precedents for cyberattacks causing blackouts. In 2015, a cyberattack on a utility substation in Ukraine shut off power to 225,000 people for several hours. It was the first time a cyberattack was publicly acknowledged to have caused a power outage. The director of national intelligence later attributed the attack to "a state actor with considerable technological resources." A memo by the Council on Foreign Relations said the circumstances and forensic evidence suggest Russian involvement. In 2016, power generators in Kiev were targeted, resulting in blackouts and strains on the system. Russia has a history of using Ukraine as a test bed of sorts, running small scale cyber operations that it may later deploy on a larger scale against the U.S. or other adversaries. Russian hackers targeted a Saudi Arabian petrochemical company in 2017, shutting off the safety systems used to prevent an explosion. In 2018, DHS and the FBI issued an alert that for the first time publicly charged "Russian government cyber actors" with targeting and penetrating a variety of critical infrastructure facilities and sectors in the U.S. The alert said the Russian hackers had gained remote access to "energy sector networks," which they used to conduct network reconnaissance, move through the systems, and collect information pertaining to ICS.A successful, long-term shutdown of our power grid would plunge the United States into a new "Dark Age" and end our society as we know it. Tens of millions of people would die from starvation and violence. The survivors would be completely vulnerable to attack from foreign forces. This issue has been discussed extensively for decades, but our leaders in Washington, DC, have failed to act, even though the cost to "harden the grid" would be less than $10 billion. In an age where billions are spent on scores of useless government projects, it begs the question "why isn't something being done?"
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Jack Gleason is a conservative political writer. For reprint requests on other websites, inside information for important issues, article requests or comments contact him at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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