Spies infiltrate U.S. power grid

Thursday, April 9, 2009

A report in yesterday's Wall Street Journal revealed that foreign spies have hacked into the U.S. power grid and other key infrastructure networks and have left behind software that could disrupt the system, raising concerns about national security.

The Journal article cited "current and former national security officials" as the source of the story, who said the spies were agents of Russia, China and other nations.

U.S. intelligence agencies detected many of the intrusions into the power grid, rather than the power companies or the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the nonprofit non-governmental organization charged with regulating electricity across the grid, the article said.

NERC issued a statement in response to the Journal's article, saying NERC is "talking steps in the right direction to improve preparedness and response to potential cyber threats."

The unnamed sources told the Journal that there had been no attempts so far to disrupt the power grid or other infrastructure.

"There are intrusions, and they are growing," one former Department of Homeland Security official said, according to the article. "There were a lot last year."

NERC said it is working with the U.S. and Canadian governments to "ensure appropriate emergency authority is in place to address imminent and specific cyber security threats."

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