Power Grid and Air Control Security Threats
Recent articles in the NY Times outlined the vulnerability of the Power Grid and our Air Control system to the potential of a terrorist attack on the computing systems being used.
No surprise here. Four years ago I sat in a meeting with a group of the brightest computer system operating engineers In America. These engineers have a responsibility for denying attacks on a large part of our National Power Grid. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss an approach that would increase their capability to recognize and avert serious attacks on the grid. There was no problem getting the meeting. They knew we represented a serious combination of private sector and Federal law enforcement talent. Every important individual in the company attended the meeting with eager questions as to how this improved approach would help their effort.
Understand this these guys and girls are the best. They know what they are doing and clearly described the challenge of intercepting hundreds and hundreds of attacks on the grid that continuously took place. They knew they were good but the fear they expressed was that they were not quite good enough. They could use help and interest from government and the private sector beyond their operating campus. To describe the situation the lead engineer near the end of the meeting said” “Buck we know what we have intercepted but we are SCARED ABOUT WHAT WE MIGHT HAVE MISSED, that may be hiding to create a future problem.”
The program we were working on went through the turmoil of finding funding to lay a ground work-then losing continuing funding, regaining funding and then being swept aside by the 2006 change of control in Congress. Fortunately there are dedicated Federal employees who prevailed upon their bosses to let them keep working with very minor funding. A dedicated Federal Agent gathered talented, patriotic, private sector engineers to volunteer and keep the program moving ahead by meeting on weekends and after the normal workday. This has gone on for more than two years and they now have an answer that looks like it will help those Power Grid engineers and others who are playing continuous catch up on the hundreds of terrorist intrusion attempts taking place every day.
The problem is that the talent that has the answer is not the talent needed to work through the The Federal Bureaucracy, to get the program tested and implemented for a real trial. In talking to my friend “the determined Federal person” last week he vented some frustration but indicated that he would not stop plugging and if he is retired before implementation he would push as a retired Federal employee from the private sector side.
Nancy, Harry, Barack and Hillary may think there is no war on terrorism. Thankfully there are those that know the serious threats we face and are working every day,
without a political motive, to protect us with more than the words that describe those threats. There are probably 20 people at some level of management in Federal Agencies that have a cursory familiarity with this project. It is a sad state that there has been so little attention to the problem being addressed that the development team cannot find an avenue leading to responsible consideration for testing and evaluating the program.
If there is serious administration interest, I’ll put them in touch for a meeting with no further mention in this Blog. Media interests need not call, the program is too serious to become a more public discussion than covered in this Buck Says Blog.
