There are a lot of things to be concerned about as the 2024 general election season kicks off and heads into the actual voting day in November, like election integrity, making sure machines are working properly, that there’s enough security and ballots are properly counted. But now it also seems we are going to have to add physical and cyber attacks on the power grid to the list as well, at least according to a report from Yahoo News.
The increased threats are, of course, because of hackers, but not just any run-of-the-mill kind. We’re talking about individuals who are paid to wreak havoc on the power grid by actual foreign governments. When I mention physical attacks on the power grid, I’m referring to the type that happened at substations located in the state of North Carolina during the later part of 2022.
“We are anticipating a fairly active year on the security front,” Jim Robb, the chief executive officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corp, said during an Electric Power Supply Association conference held in Washington earlier in the week.
And the power grid isn’t the only thing that is a target for hackers. The White House just put out a new cyber attack warning to governor’s around the country suggesting that foreign hackers could potentially launch attacks against water and sewage systems. Many cities run such systems on older, outdated equipment that is in serious need of being upgraded. Max Kilger of UT-San Antonio stated that a hack could lead to additional chlorine or fluoride into the water system. The Biden administration stated that the hackers are looking for systems that have not changed their default passwords.
You would think that something as critical to survival as the water system would be an issue the local government would pay far more attention and make sure it was completely and totally secure. Why in the world are there places around the United States where the default password for these systems has not been changed? This is a pretty basic step when it comes to cyber security. Are smaller towns and cities just woefully ignorant on the topic of cyber security? If so, this needs to be remedied as soon as possible. This is a glaring oversight that could potentially have deadly consequences.
If cyber terrorists are successful in their attempts to take out a power grid it could cause mass chaos. Traffic lights go out. And I think we’re all aware of the dimwits that are out on the road driving who suddenly lose their minds when the lights go out and have no idea what to do. For the record, you treat the stop light intersection as a four-way stop. That bit right there is free.
Of course, the biggest danger in such a situation is rioting and looting. In our day and age this has become a common practice with people, especially young folk, always looking for any reason to legitimize breaking into businesses and stealing everything their heart has ever desired.
Let’s hope security gets beefed up and this becomes a non-issue.