Chinese researchers show how the PRC “owns” the U.S. Power Grid

Last Updated on Monday, 14 September 2009 08:10 Written by Jeffreycarr Monday, 14 September 2009 08:10

I had a head-slapping “What the F” moment when I read the New Scientist story “How to Short-Circuit the U.S. Power Grid“.

Let’s start with the fact that the military strategy of the PRC ever since the U.S. speedily won the first Iraq war has been to find ways to mitigate our technological superiority by attacking its most vulnerable point – the network. That includes, as the Wall Street Journal so sensationally reminded us, the U.S. power grid.

How fast do you think this research topic was approved by the National Natural Science Foundation of China for funding? About a millisecond?

And does anyone feel better that a fix is being worked on by DHS which “may” be ready for testing in the New York region sometime next year?

This method of discovering and then announcing vulnerabilities so that the victim can make the fix is a popular method utilized by so-called white hat hackers, and that’s what these two researchers state in the conclusion of their report. The problem is that the university they work for is one that receives funding for military-related projects too, and that this topic is directly related to the national defense mission of the Peoples Republic.

Somehow I get the feeling that Chinese military leaders are saying to the U.S. – you are worried so much about our probing of your networks, you have no idea that we already own you. Here is a throw-away vulnerability to demonstrate exactly what we mean.

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This issue is explored in-depth in today’s IntelFusion FLASH Traffic weekly brief, including a review of the State agency who funded this research, the university for whom these researchers work, and our analysis of the implications of this research. Contact me for more information if you are not currently a subscriber.