The vulnerability of our power grid

Evan Halper writes,

In Congress, the vulnerability of the power grid has emerged as among the most pressing domestic security concerns.

It is also among the most vexing.

Now, a cyberterrorist with a little knowledge and the right laptop can gain that access and cause chaos in a regional power system merely by linking up with the control panel at a secluded electric vehicle charging station.

Other attacks, as the Silicon Valley incident showed, can take shape without computers. Last month, New Jersey's Regional Operations Intelligence Center, a state agency that monitors security threats, published a report revealing constant breaches at power stations. The incidents involved people armed with such mundane equipment as false identification, wire cutters and crowbars.

The report, first disclosed in the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative newspaper, declared the power grid "inherently vulnerable" to attack.

"Many of the grid's important components sit out in the open," the report said, "often in remote locations, protected by little more than cameras and chain-link fences."

Read more here.