[ISN] Hackers blacked out Brazil: Report

Forwarded from: Simon Taplin <simon.taplin (at) gmail.com>

http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/article184124.ece

Nov 7, 2009 11:02 AM | By AFP

Massive power outages in Brazil in 2005 and 2007 that impacted millions 
were caused by cyber hackers attacking control systems, the US 
television network CBS says.

The CBS news program 60 Minutes said it had learned that the 2007 
blackout in Espirito Santo State, which affected over three million 
people, and a smaller incident in Rio de Janeiro in 2005, were 
perpetrated by hackers.

The program, to be aired on Sunday, included the revelations as part of 
an investigation into the threat of cyber attacks on the United States.

Former Chief of US National Intelligence Mike McConnell told the 60 
Minutes that he thought a similar attack is poised to take place on US 
soil.

If cyber hackers were able to infiltrate the US power grid, he said, 
“the United States is not prepared for such an attack."

Earlier this year the White House, State Department and Pentagon 
websites were among US government entities targeted in cyber attacks, 
amid suspicion that North Korea or its supporters are to blame.

In May South Korea and the United States agreed to cooperate in fighting 
cyber attacks against their defense networks.

Jim Lewis, director of the Center for Strategic and International 
Studies, emphasized to 60 Minutes that US cyber security has come under 
significant attack from foreign nations in the past few years, including 
a breach of the CENTCOM Network, the US command post heading the wars in 
Afghanistan and Iraq.

"We know it was a foreign country. We don't know which one — this was a 
very sophisticated set of skills," Lewis told CBS.


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