SAN JOSE, Calif. — Spies hacked into the U.S. electric grid and left behind computer programs that would let them disrupt service, exposing potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities in key pieces of national infrastructure, The Associated Press has learned.
The intrusions were discovered after electric companies gave the government permission to audit their systems, a former U.S. government official told the AP. The ex-official was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The inspections of the electric grid were triggered by fears over a March 2007 video from the Idaho National Laboratory, which had staged a demonstration of what damage hackers could do if they seized control of a crucial part of the electric grid. The video showed a power turbine spinning out of control until it became a smoking hulk and shut down.
Although the audits turned up evidence of spying, the former official told AP that the extent of the problem is unknown because the government does not have blanket authority to examine other electric systems.
The U.S. electricity grid is at “increasing” risk to attack by computer hackers, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday.
“We need to be constantly ready,” Napolitano said.
Napolitano declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that Russian, Chinese and other spies have penetrated U.S. computer systems running electricity plants.
The hackers implanted software into the systems that may be used in the future to disrupt electricity, the Journal said, citing unnamed current and former national-security officials.
Napolitano said power has never been disrupted in the U.S. because of a cyber attack, and the Obama administration is working with electric utilities to fortify the computer networks against attacks.
“We’ve known about this vulnerability for several years,” she said.
The Journal said officials believe that the spies have not yet sought to damage the grid, but that they likely would try in a war or another crisis.
Chinese and Russian officials have denied involvement in hacks on U.S. systems.
