Electrical engineers in the high-mountain desert region of southeastern Idaho have spent the last six months testing the vulnerability of the computer system that controls the nation’s vast electrical grid. The concern among some at this 890-square-mile facility the size of Rhode Island is that the system has serious flaws that leave it open to cyber terrorists. Utilities use the system, known within the industry as SCADA, to monitor hundreds of miles of high-voltage wires and to operate other unmanned equipment by remote control. SCADA is standard in the industry worldwide. Many countries, including those that harbor terrorists, use it. The same system malfunctioned at Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp.’s control center during the Aug. 14 blackout that cascaded through eight states and two Canadian provinces. Company officials say they are close to determining the cause of the malfunction, but they declined to provide details. One official with the Akron utility said that in his experience, the system, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, has never succumbed to cyber attack. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.