CIA Warns of Hacks Against Energy Grid

The Washington Post details the internet security concern the CIA took to an energy and utility trade show this week:

In a rare public warning to the power and utility industry, a CIA analyst this week said cyber attackers have hacked into the computer systems of utility companies outside the United States and made demands, in at least one case causing a power outage that affected multiple cities.

“We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet,” Tom Donahue, the CIA’s top cybersecurity analyst, said Wednesday at a trade conference in New Orleans.

Defense Room adds that former CIA official Michael Tanji backs up his former colleague:

Having worked with Tom Donahue on these and related issues in the past, I regret to inform conspiracy theorists that he is virulently allergic to hyperbole. That he might be making these statements lightly are about as likely as any sane person playing Russian roulette with a semi-auto pistol. I’ve long been a skeptic of claims about being able to shut down the world from the ‘Net, since doctored exercises are not real life (among other reasons), but after today I’m starting to come around to the idea that the ignorance or intransigence of utility system owners just might merit a more robust response than has been undertaken to date.