*Clarke has been warning about this for years and every year he gets more bloody shirts to wave.
*Do you think anybody anywhere really knows what's going on with the American power grid? How about the Japanese power grid? Those guys are pretty tidy and methodical; you think they're on top of their situation?
*If the California power grid starting mysteriously browning out tomorrow, do you think the reaction would be that much different than it was when Enron pulled the triggers, Gray Davis got deposed and Schwarzenegger took power? If you were Chinese intelligence and you were briefed on a mess like that, wouldn't you think: "Hey, what the heck!"
*The Chinese aren't ten feet tall and they didn't build the likes of Stuxnet, but hey, somebody DID build the likes of Stuxnet.
*The Administration has in fact reacted to this threat; it was recently remarked that if somebody takes out American power plants with the likes of Stuxnet they can expect a cruise missile down their smokestacks in short order. A lively prospect.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304259304576373391101828876.html
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"In 2009, this newspaper reported that the control systems for the U.S. electric power grid had been hacked and secret openings created so that the attacker could get back in with ease. Far from denying the story, President Obama publicly stated that "cyber intruders have probed our electrical grid."
"There is no money to steal on the electrical grid, nor is there any intelligence value that would justify cyber espionage: The only point to penetrating the grid's controls is to counter American military superiority by threatening to damage the underpinning of the U.S. economy. Chinese military strategists have written about how in this way a nation like China could gain an equal footing with the militarily superior United States.
"What would we do if we discovered that Chinese explosives had been laid throughout our national electrical system? The public would demand a government response. If, however, the explosive is a digital bomb that could do even more damage, our response is apparently muted—especially from our government.
"Congress hasn't passed a single piece of significant cybersecurity legislation. When the Chinese deny senior U.S. officials' claims (made in private) that Beijing is stealing terabytes of data in the U.S., Congress should not leave the American people in doubt. It should demand answers to basic questions:
"What does the administration know about the role of the Chinese government in cyberattacks on public and private computer networks in the United States?
"If there is widespread Chinese hacking of sensitive U.S. networks and critical infrastructure, what has the administration said about it to the Chinese government? Specifically, did President Obama raise concerns about these attacks with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House this spring?
"Since defensive measures such as antivirus software and firewalls appear unable to stop the Chinese penetrations, does the administration have any plan to address these cyberattacks?
"In private, U.S. officials admit that the government has no strategy to stop the Chinese cyberassault. Rather than defending American companies, the Pentagon seems focused on "active defense," by which it means offense. That cyberoffense might be employed if China were ever to launch a massive cyberwar on the U.S. But in the daily guerrilla cyberwar with China, our government is engaged in defending only its own networks. It is failing in its responsibility to protect the rest of America from Chinese cyberattack."
Mr. Clarke was a national security official in the White House for three presidents. He is chairman of Good Harbor Consulting, a security risk management consultancy for governments and corporations....
