SMart Grid...Subject to Hackers, Or Not? That is The Question.

OH MY GOD! HAckers could break into the Smart Grid!...or not. I would venture to say the Smart Grid like everything else in the world (including this laptop I am working on) is subject to an every changing number of security vulnerabilities. It's part of living in a technological world. However, when reading the CNN security correspondent's article on the Smart Grid security vulnerabilities, was struck by a sense of CON, as in CON JOB. I am not doubting that we could have a MAJOR BLACK OUT caused through a deliberate attack of the smart grid...so what, we could have hundreds of thousands of lost lives from a successful terrorist attack on a Nuclear Reactor site, but do not see Jeanne Meserve writing that story.

I am suggesting we take her story with a VERY LARGE GRAIN OF SALT...she does not report the WHOLE STORY, but instead calls her story complete because she sites TWO INDUSTRY EXPERTS in her story...two industry experts that STAND TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY if they are successful in slowing Smart Grid down until they get a larger piece of the pie by adding on a lot more of their companies security programs. Her first expert, "Ed Skoudis, a co-founder of InGuardians, a network security research and consulting firm" warns against rolling out the system to fast. Her other source, IO Active warns of a MAJOR TAKE OVER OF THE SYSTEM with an investment of just $500...sort of kind of.

Not to cast dispersions on the reporter here, but WHAT IS IN IT FOR HER in using this two examples? There is a $4.5 Billion dollar pile of money on the table for Smart Grid, and neither of these two names came up on the front page when googling Smart Grid...but, there being in your article sure puts them FRONT AND CENTER. Tell us Jeanne Meserve, do you have any kind of a relationship/association with any of the sources in this article?

By Jeanne Meserve
CNN Homeland Security Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Is it really so smart to forge ahead with the high technology, digitally based electricity distribution and transmission system known as the "Smart Grid"? Tests have shown that a hacker can break into the system, and cybersecurity experts said a massive blackout could result.

If someone hacked into the Smart Grid, experts say it could cause a blackout that stretches across the country.

Until the United States eliminates the Smart Grid's vulnerabilities, some experts said, deployment should proceed slowly.

"I think we are putting the cart before the horse here to get this stuff rolled out very fast," said Ed Skoudis, a co-founder of InGuardians, a network security research and consulting firm.

The Smart Grid will use automated meters, two-way communications and advanced sensors to improve electricity efficiency and reliability. The nation's utilities have embraced the concept and are installing millions of automated meters on homes across the country, the first phase in Smart Grid's deployment. President Obama has championed Smart Grid, and the recent stimulus bill allocated $4.5 billion for the high-tech program.

But cybersecurity experts said some types of meters can be hacked, as can other points in the Smart Grid's communications systems. IOActive, a professional security services firm, determined that an attacker with $500 of equipment and materials and a background in electronics and software engineering could "take command and control of the [advanced meter infrastructure] allowing for the en masse manipulation of service to homes and businesses."