"Please explain WHY power plants are vulnerable to hacking. " Topic

To be vulnerable to hacking, it's fairly obvious that it's computer system be on line.
Ok. We have heard for years, and seen quite a few good to bad movies and tv shows about how these can be hacked into with disastrous results.
So my question is basically "Why are they on line?"
What is the need for an outside source, benevolent or malevolent, to control a nuclear power plant in California from New York? Why are they not autonomous?

Am I missing something, or have I just read too many bad novels?

The only computer that can't be hacked is the one that's never turned on… the internet just makes it easier. Computers can still be physically accessed and software uploaded, networks that aren't connected to the internet can be physically accessed. With entire grids being remotely monitored and tied together to manage power demands there are plenty of ways to get in. I highly doubt that if plant A needs to produce more power because plant B isn't running at peak efficiency that a guy turns a knob after getting a phone call. Everything is done remotely to micromanage these things from a central location.

Too much bad planning, and the apparent need (dubious perhaps) to coordinate with other power providers to keep our ancient, insecure, and poorly designed, flimsy power grid up and running.

I agree, they should be "hardened" by not being exposed to the external internet.

It should be possible to have a human, humans, or some other computer system in between as a buffer to prevent this vulnerability.

Because the three guys who actually rule the world, need to be able to access everything from the comfy chairs in Toadsuck, Arkansas. That is why everything is online.

1) Power plants, and the massive infrastructure they imply are spread over great distances, and some of it is difficult to access.

2) the Grid is vulnerable to any form of breakdown, with the potential to produce a non-linear response in the system, bringing the whole thing down with a seemingly small problem. So it must be constantly monitored and issues addressed quickly from a centralized control.

3) To keep it running you need to monitor it from a distance. You can't keep a field operator at each tower, junction, transformer, relay, etc.

4) The communication system requires a variety of technologies. In some cases, if you open the box for comms on the device in question, you may see a circuit that isn't too different from a walkie talkie. In other cases it is much more sophisticated.

5) Some of this is monitored and controlled by internet available technologies. They were secured. Sort of. By not reporting the ports, protocols and so forth. Security via obscurity. Its used by normal people everyday who hide a key under a gnome statue or planter by the front door.

Its an issue. It's been discussed. Ad nauseum, really. It would be nice to have leadership get involved in cleaning it up. But the leading parties are more interested in discussing taking away liberties, rolling back healthcare, voting for pay raises, and other nonsense. But don't worry. America always does the right thing after we are attacked and lose billions if not trillions of dollars and thousands of lives. It's just a matter of time.

They haven't fixed this after 9/11, and realizing the vulnerability of the system since then.

How many decades do they need?

It's due to the SCADA industrial control system software used. There is a lot of legacy systems which were not really designed for web enabled access and were intended to be stand-alone thus were not designed with security in mind and re-engineering or modifying simply isn't feasible due to the required down time of the system (I.e. Taking elements of national infrastructure off line).

So when you're reading your 8th edition 40K rule book and you suffer a blackout, power can be diverted from the Midwest so that you can continue reading. It's really that simple.

My God. Doesn't FEMA watch 24???

I think FEMA is going to be busy in Missouri for starts.

What Nick B said

Even if it is isolated – (and that's really not feasible on a widely distributed system) – a phishing attack can be made on the most vulnerable component, human beings. Sorry Mako, human beings aren't a protection, they are a vulnerability.

A network doesn't need to be connected to the world wide web to be attacked. A worm can be brought in any number of ways. Read about what Stuxnet did to Iran's computer systems.

I work in the nuclear field. Most utilities have business LANs and vital LANs separated by air gaps, similar to the way classified and unclassified LANs are separated by air gaps. Many pieces of equipment utilize Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) which are nothing more than computer controls for the device. So long as the air gaps are maintained, the PLCs are pretty secure. However, monitoring and test equipment are routinely connected to the equipment which presents a vulnerability. As do USB thumb drives, which are vigorously controlled inside the plant.

As with any kind of force protection measure, nothing is perfect. The goal is to make yourself such a hard target that the bad guys focus on a easier target.

As someone previously stated, people are the real vulnerability; you can have the best security system known to man, but if you leave the front door unlocked and open….

Regards,

Scott Chisholm

Money

Something thus far unmentioned: WHY are powerplants vulnerable?

Because when you have powerplants feeding into a network, they must all communicate so they maintain exactly the same frequency. Otherwise, the over speed and under speed generators will wear out faster. It isn't "boom" damage but on a continental scale, screwing this up can cause tens of billions in damage.