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Nation-sponsored hackers have penetrated the operational networks multiple US and European energy companies use to control key parts of the power grid that supplies electricity to hundreds of millions of people, researchers warned Wednesday.
The incursions detected by security firm Symantec represent a dramatic escalation by a hacking group dubbed Dragonfly, which has been waging attacks against US and European energy companies since at least 2011. In 2014, Symantec reported that Dragonfly was aggressively establishing beachheads in a limited number of target networks, mainly by stealing the user names and passwords used to restrict access to legitimate personnel. Over the past year, the hacking group has managed to compromise dozens of energy firms and, in a handful of cases, install backdoors in the highly sensitive networks the firms use to supply power to the grid.
[...] After this Ars post went live, several security professionals with expertise in electric grids downplayed the likelihood of the operational network compromises being used to cause blackouts or take down parts of the grid. Robert Lee, the founder and CEO of Dragos Security, said the hackers would need more than the mere ability to control human machine interfaces that flip switches and open and close breakers. While he said an attack that mimicked the techniques that disrupted Ukrainian power in 2015 was possible, he said differences in the US grid would make those tactics much less effective.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jelizondo on Monday September 11 2017, @03:57AM (3 children)
Immediately, guns; medium- and long-term, salt. You see people think that gold, silver or diamonds will allow them to barter once apocalyptic events happen but they are wrong, neither of those is edible nor will help you survive. Salt will allow you to keep food for longer and it is necessary for bodily survival. (Salt gets a bad rap because processed foods contain too much of it, but it really is necessary for your body.)
For the first 4 to 6 months, canned food and guns; longer than six months, salt is worth its weight on… wait, salt!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday September 11 2017, @04:44AM (2 children)
Unless you live by the sea or in Salt Lake City.
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Looking into the pyramid of human needs, the first two levels (survival and safety) will be the most valuable.
Which may include: food, water disinfection tablets and antibiotics, preservatives (salt is one of them, aspirin is better), defense (guns, yes, but a place easy to defend may be even more valuable than a gun with not enough ammunition), hand tools (saw/hacksaws, hammers, knives).
Medium term (1year+): seeds. Mobility may also be an issue: horse/donkey/camel - if you can afford their care and defense.
Longish term - community (one won't last long alone) and knowledge of basic pottery, forging and agriculture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Tuesday September 12 2017, @02:07AM (1 child)
Thank you for your reply. I was being kind of flippant, but your reply is very thoughtful.
I have been in a couple of hurricanes (not any of the current ones, thank $deity) where I had money but banks are closed, no power so no ATM so no money. One can starve with a lot of money in the bank!
However such events are transitory but a full collapse would take a lot of lives simply for lack of experience. Even bullets eventually go bad and so does aspirin, so you have to think about not having ANY modern stuff around, and as you point out, one needs to know some valuable skills such as pottery or agriculture.
Cheers,
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday September 12 2017, @02:19AM
Some clips I enjoyed over the weekend on the Primitive Technology [youtube.com] channel (a young bloke in northern Queensland).
I found the fire lighting [youtube.com] and the forge blower [youtube.com] quite ingenious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford