Friday, December 30, 2016

Russian Government Malware on Vermont Utility computer is serious

Because if it is there on one utility computer you can bet it is also on others. And all you would need is a command to shut down power all across the grid of the lower 48. The timing of this could be when it is coldest when the most might freeze to death. Or the timing could be when it is hottest when the most might die from heat stroke.

But, the fact that it is there on one utility company computer means it is on many more. It is just about the laws of probability regarding computers. And something like this only needs the right command on the right day and everything goes down and people die.

For example, imagine all street signals go down in all cities in the same time zone. Imagine the pain and gridlock and loss of money from just such an action?

But, the worst of course is people freezing to death who don't have cars with heaters to get into in the winter or in the summer people dying of heat stroke who don't have cars or trucks with air conditioning to get into for relief in weather over 100 degrees.

With malware activated all these things are possible in an all out cyber war.

Once something like this is shut down from the generating sources it might be weeks or months before power was restored if all power generating equipment has been destroyed in various ways.

So, this is pretty serious. From space it might look like all the lights in the lower 48 going out all at once some cold night.

Sounds like it might be time to make sure you have a gas or diesel generator as back up doesn't it?

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