Hackers Can Now Disrupt U.S. Electrical Grid

Computer security firm Symantec now reports the hacker group known as Dragonfly is trying to gain control of U.S. electrical companies’ power grids.

 

 

Computer security firm Symantec revealed late last week that a hacker group known as Dragonfly 2.0 has successfully infiltrated the control systems of U.S. electrical companies.

Hackers Turn Ukrainian Infrastructure into ‘Powder Keg’

For more information on SCADAs, their vulnerabilities and exploitations, please see the SCADA tag.

An example article showing American vulnerability to SCADA attacks:

UPDATE 3: U.S. probes cyber attack on water system

 

Several attacks have already taken place against regional power plants in Ukraine, resulting in several short-term blackouts in December 2015. It was the first recorded case of power outages being caused by cyber attacks and originated from a type of malware known as BlackEnergy.

It is not clear who was behind the attacks but a military spokesperson stated last week that they were originating from Russia. Another type of malware has since been discovered by investigators looking into the December cyber attacks, although researchers say it is impossible to know how many systems are currently at risk.

Chinese ‘Silk Road’ Initiative to Diminish US Role in Eurasian Region

Was America tricked and swindled out of building this for Eurasia? For more information on how the U.S. originally supported this initiative, see HERE and HERE.

 

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Ekaterina Blinova — By involving India and Russia in its “One Belt, One Road” project, China has dealt a final blow to ambitious New Silk Road initiative, launched by the United States in 2011.

“Since China’s “One Belt and One Road” strategy, which refers to the Silk Road economic belt and the 21st century maritime Silk Road, was initiated at the end of 2013, significant progress has been made and increasing support has been garnered from the international community,” the Global Times, a Chinese English-language media outlet noted.

U.S. has no ‘plan B’ for Bahrain naval base: officer

WASHINGTON: The US military has failed to prepare a realistic “plan B” if political turmoil forces the closure of a vital naval base in Bahrain, a naval officer argues in a report released Monday.

The Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain is the most US important maritime base in the Middle East but senior officers have become complacent about its future, Commander Richard McDaniel asserts.

“Surprisingly, military leaders have no ‘Plan B’ if strategic access in Bahrain is jeopardized,” McDaniel wrote, in a paper published by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.