Bob Sullivan on Renewed Cyber-Terror Worries

NHPR webmaster Brady Carlson passed us this article about renewed concerns over cyber-terrorism and national security. To summarize: rumors of successful cyber attacks on overseas power plants have some security experts worried about our own nation's safety.

Other experts are dismissing these reports as hearsay, but almost all agree that it's good to draw more attention to cyber-security issues. And with more and more reliance on the internet to do business these days, power plants may become more susceptible:

The big back-end computers that run power plants – known as SCADA systems, short for Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition – are increasingly linked to front-end business systems.

A decade ago, these systems were isolated and arcane, making them virtually impervious to outside hacker attack. But even with the increased scrutiny on homeland security after the Sept. 11 attacks, SCADA systems are increasingly connected to the outside world. That makes them a much easier mark for hackers.

The temptation to connect SCADA systems to the Internet is just too great, according to one Department of Homeland Security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Many utilities own plants spread over wide distances, making Web access important if they want to monitor their facilities remotely.

You can read Bob Sullivan's entire article on MSNBC's blog, The Red Tape Chronicles.

(Photo by jksimpson)