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New Cyber Attack Report Has This Expert Saying A Downed Grid Is ‘Absolutely’ Possible

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Image source: nextpowerup.com [1]

Image source: nextpowerup.com

Hackers in the past five years successfully penetrated more than 150 times the computer networks at the federal department that controls the nation’s nuclear weapons, nuclear weapon factories, nuclear-research facilities and that handles security for America’s electrical grid, according to a new review.

All total, there were 1,131 cyberattacks on Department of Energy (DOE) computer systems between late 2010 and 2014, an analysis of federal records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by USA Today concluded.

The declassified material showed that the DOE’s networks were subject to what the newspaper labeled a near-constant barrage of security [2] breaches.

“The potential for an adversary to disrupt, shut down (power systems), or worse … is real here,” Scott White, a professor of homeland security and security management at Drexel University, told the newspaper after reviewing the documents. “It’s absolutely real.”

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The Department of Energy refused to say “whether any sensitive data related to the operation and security of the nation’s power grid or nuclear weapons stockpile was accessed or stolen in any of the attacks,” or “whether foreign governments are believed to have been involved,” USA Today said.

The newspaper found that:

This is the second time USA Today has exposed a lack of grid security [4]. In March it reported that the electrical grid was subject to some sort of physical or cyberattack every four days between 2011 and 2014.

What is your reaction to the Department of Energy being attacked frequently? Are you concerned about a downed grid or a nuclear disaster? Share your thoughts in the section below:

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