Trump Orders Preparation Against Cyber Attacks on
Power Grid, 5/14/17
(Washington Free
Beacon) President Trump ordered the federal government to prepare for a
devastating cyber attack against America’s electric grid amid growing fears
foreign states are set to carry out attacks aimed at plunging the nation into
darkness.
A presidential order signed Thursday directed key federal
agencies to assess preparations for a prolonged power outage resulting from
cyber attacks designed to disrupt the power grid.
An assessment of the
danger must be carried out by the Energy Department, Homeland Security, DNI and
state and local governments to examine the readiness of the United State to
manage a shutdown of the power grid. The assessment will also identify gaps and
shortcomings in efforts that would be used restore power.
New cyber security
measures outlined in the executive order come as the commander of Cyber
Command warned two days earlier that America’s critical
infrastructure is vulnerable to disruption by foreign cyber attacks.
Cyber command chief
Adm. Mike Rogers said several nations, including Iran, have been tied to
disruptions and remote intrusions into U.S. critical infrastructures, such as
the electric grid, financial networks, and others.
Rogers said
destructive cyber attacks on critical infrastructure are one of his two worst
case scenarios. The second involves the threat of cyber intrusions aimed at
manipulating data within networks.
Iran tried to disrupt
the function of a dam in upstate New York in 2013, and Russia has used
industrial control malware called BlackEnergy to attack Ukraine’s electric
grid, Rogers said.
“Infiltrations in U.S.
critical infrastructure—when viewed in the light of incidents like these—can
look like preparations for future attacks that could be intended to harm
Americans, or at least to deter the United States and other countries from
protecting and defending our vital interests,” Rogers said…
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