CIA: Hackers Worldwide Have Taken Over Major City Power Grids

CIA analyst Tom Donahue disclosed the recently declassified news about the cyber attacks that have shut down the power grids of several cities outside of the U.S. The cities’ utility systems were taken over, and demands were subsequently made by the hackers.

The goal of the attacks was extortion, Donahue confirmed. The criminals were able to hack into computer systems via the Internet and gained access to cut power to entire cities.

"We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands," he said in a statement. "In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet."

"According to Mr. Donahue, the CIA actively and thoroughly considered the benefits and risks of making this information public, and came down on the side of disclosure," stated the conference's organizers, the SANS Institute.

The disclosure was news to many of the government and industry security professionals in attendance. Hacking the power grid made front-page headlines in September when CNN aired a video showing an Idaho National Laboratory demonstration of a software attack on the computer system used to control a power generator. In the demonstration, the smoking generator was rendered inoperable.

However, the U.S. is taking steps to lock down the computers that manage its power systems. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has also approved new mandatory standards designed to improve cybersecurity.

Posted by Rebecca Sato

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