Protecting the Grid

I try to keep you informed and entertained as we spiral towards apocalypse, so here's yet another thing we can all worry about.

A recent test by the Department of Homeland Security, called "Aurora", vividly demonstrates how cyber-attacks on power generation systems can do more than temporarily shut down equipment. Such attacks can actually do physical harm and destroy hardware. This video shows a generator shaking itself apart during the Aurora test, then goes on to discuss the sobering ramifications of this vulnerability.

Before seeing this report I tended to think of cyber-attacks as an annoyance or an inconvenience. Now I understand how they could devastate the nation. Consider the following as reported by CNN:

"For about $5 million and between three to five years of preparation, an organization, whether it be transnational terrorist groups or nation states, could mount a strategic attack against the United States," said O. Sami Saydjari of the nonprofit Professionals for Cyber Defense.

Economist Scott Borg, who produces security-related data for the federal government, projects that if a third of the country lost power for three months, the economic price tag would be $700 billion.

"It's equivalent to 40 to 50 large hurricanes striking all at once," Borg said. "It's greater economic damage than any modern economy ever suffered. ... It's greater then the Great Depression. It's greater than the damage we did with strategic bombing on Germany in World War II."

Computer experts have long warned of the vulnerability of cyber attacks, and many say the government is not devoting enough money or attention to the matter.

"We need to get on it, and get on it quickly," said former CIA Director James Woolsey on Tuesday.

I hate to bring it up, but even if we protect our power grid from cyber-attack, it is still vulnerable to electro-magnetic pulse weapons. And don't think the enemy isn't aware of this. In June 2006, UPI reported on a former Pakistani intellegence agent who spoke about Bin Laden's desire to use such weapons.

A former Pakistani intelligence agent who once worked closely with Osama bin Laden says that the U.S. may well be attacked with electro-magnetic pulse bombs. During a June 22 interview with Adnkronos International news agency Khalid Khawaja said, "The e-bomb shall be the new threat for the USA, not the nukes or gas attacks."

Khawaja is a retired former member of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI. After retiring, he went to Afghanistan and fought with bin Laden. Khawaja said of bin Laden, "Osama is above all this politicking. He is a great man and will remain great." Khawaja is said to retain close ties with Kashmiri militants and former Taliban leaders.

An e-bomb or electromagnetic pulse weapon is designed to disable electronic equipment over a wide area by generating an intense surge of electromagnetic radiation. The weapon generates an electromagnetic shock wave, inducing heavy currents in all electronic gadgets with semi-conducting materials, frying their circuitry.

An e-bomb would disable electronic systems on which even mechanical devices, such as cars and airplanes are highly dependent in industrialized nations.