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Malicious virus shuttered power plant: DHS

Yahoo / Reuters -- A computer virus attacked a turbine control system at a U.S. power company last fall when a technician unknowingly inserted an infected USB computer drive into the network, keeping a plant off line for three weeks, according to a report posted on a U.S. government website.

The DHS report did not identify the plant but said criminal software, which is used to conduct financial crimes such as identity theft, was behind the incident.

It was introduced by an employee of a 3rd-party contractor that does business with the utility, according to the agency.

Many critical infrastructure control systems run on Windows XP and Windows 2000..They have "auto run" features enabled by default, which makes them an easy target for infection because malicious software loads as soon as a USB is plugged int

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Submitted Jan 17, 2013 By: DellDude2

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honda0105 Champion Author Tallahassee Posts:18,632 Points:1,610,495 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Jan 21, 2013 5:01:25 AM Ignore honda0105 Report Abuse now that we know, how about going about fixing the vulnerabilities?
honda0105 Champion Author Tallahassee Posts:18,632 Points:1,610,495 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Jan 19, 2013 9:47:28 PM Ignore honda0105 Report Abuse shows how truly vulnerable the grid really is.
Rhino8of8 Champion Author Wisconsin Posts:1,251 Points:375,465 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Jan 18, 2013 5:47:17 AM Ignore Rhino8of8 Report Abuse So, did they disable the auto-run?
SkooterG Champion Author Phoenix Posts:1,359 Points:329,335 Joined:May 2012	Message Posted: Jan 18, 2013 1:04:25 AM Ignore SkooterG Report Abuse What the heck? Don't power plants have some kind of cyber security or protocol? How the heck was a third party contractor allowed to plug a personal drive into the main system? Just plain ol DUMB!
tomok Champion Author Portland Posts:33,041 Points:2,346,485 Joined:Aug 2006	Message Posted: Jan 18, 2013 12:09:30 AM Ignore tomok Report Abuse Malicious virus shuttered power plant? Do Not use outside computer programs or devices on the power plant computer system! If all else fails, install one of those free antivirus software programs that can control items like that. Where was the computer department or the internet technicians when this happened, out to lunch? The US and Israel did the same thing to Iran nuclear processing equipment, over sped the centrifuge and destroyed the equipment via the internet. Whatever the size or shape of the vehicle, vehicle manufactures Produce and the population ‘Drives’ vehicles with high MPG, are very safe, reliable, have a ‘reasonable’ cost and a good ‘value’ for the money. The price of fuel at the pump is too high! XII/XXII/MMXII! - The Day After......
rahcat Champion Author Grand Rapids Posts:2,473 Points:663,925 Joined:Jan 2010	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:23:08 PM Ignore rahcat Report Abuse Bugs are bad.
goldrose1 Champion Author Cleveland Posts:10,944 Points:1,925,765 Joined:Feb 2005	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:22:15 PM Ignore goldrose1 Report Abuse Can you say oops?!
jimmy544 Champion Author Boston Posts:4,114 Points:654,770 Joined:Feb 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:21:16 PM Ignore jimmy544 Report Abuse Windoz strikes again!
unicornpmb Champion Author Buffalo Posts:8,496 Points:1,630,490 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:21:09 PM Ignore unicornpmb Report Abuse They need better control and smarter people.
crreed1 Champion Author West Virginia Posts:1,990 Points:2,527,310 Joined:May 2005	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:19:09 PM Ignore crreed1 Report Abuse fix it
jrsva Champion Author Virginia Posts:9,857 Points:1,613,225 Joined:Jan 2006	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:18:19 PM Ignore jrsva Report Abuse “Needs McAfee Security Center.” That won’t do it if you have auto-run enabled and then plug in a infected drive.
tedjm1 Champion Author New York Posts:5,609 Points:800,300 Joined:Dec 2006	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:17:58 PM Ignore tedjm1 Report Abuse Bad security.
ican2step Champion Author Pittsburgh Posts:1,686 Points:428,375 Joined:Feb 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:17:46 PM Ignore ican2step Report Abuse Good idea jrsva
jrsva Champion Author Virginia Posts:9,857 Points:1,613,225 Joined:Jan 2006	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:15:57 PM Ignore jrsva Report Abuse So disable the auto-run feature. It has been done on all computers under my control. The problem is that it requires editing the registry and most folks do not know how to do that. Also, most folks will not know how to get their software to start without auto-run. It is easy but most folks are clueless and, therefore, subject to virus invasions.
Quick68 Champion Author Columbus Posts:8,228 Points:1,226,775 Joined:Dec 2009	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:13:40 PM Ignore Quick68 Report Abuse Sounds like they put in a very cheap computer system.
HEBster Champion Author Kentucky Posts:8,793 Points:2,375,000 Joined:May 2006	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:13:25 PM Ignore HEBster Report Abuse Pretty scarey...
southtown43701 Champion Author Ohio Posts:11,380 Points:2,417,905 Joined:Jul 2005	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:11:37 PM Ignore southtown43701 Report Abuse all they have to do is drop a drive in the parking lot. Some idiot will plug it in.
jrschl Champion Author Louisville Posts:2,972 Points:682,040 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:10:31 PM Ignore jrschl Report Abuse That's a bummer.
Toppers Champion Author Atlanta Posts:9,017 Points:2,471,670 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:10:29 PM Ignore Toppers Report Abuse Surprised it took this long...
Cableman66 Champion Author North Carolina Posts:2,115 Points:490,920 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:10:06 PM Ignore Cableman66 Report Abuse Old news.
boatfloyd Champion Author Jacksonville Posts:1,723 Points:388,950 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:09:37 PM Ignore boatfloyd Report Abuse Needs McAfee Security Center.
dudleydolittle Champion Author Cleveland Posts:4,430 Points:592,045 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:09:32 PM Ignore dudleydolittle Report Abuse old
ManOfLeisureII Champion Author Philadelphia Posts:1,879 Points:455,125 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:09:13 PM Ignore ManOfLeisureII Report Abuse Not much you can do about it
JagXKR Champion Author British Columbia Posts:3,164 Points:1,092,355 Joined:Dec 2009	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:08:35 PM Ignore JagXKR Report Abuse There needs to be greater urgency to protect power plants. If the eco terrorist president would spend more time on that than throwing away $Billions on his eco terrorist agenda the US would be a better place.
majjad Champion Author Dallas Posts:6,448 Points:1,429,400 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:08:27 PM Ignore majjad Report Abuse The COO and/or VP of IT and all IT staff connect with that system should be fired. There's NO excuse for that type of sloppy security procedures.
tutaw Champion Author Kentucky Posts:3,600 Points:843,495 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:08:23 PM Ignore tutaw Report Abuse this is not good
carinthuist Champion Author San Francisco Posts:2,250 Points:330,525 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:08:10 PM Ignore carinthuist Report Abuse don't use usb
naspa Champion Author Cleveland Posts:1,276 Points:353,125 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:08:04 PM Ignore naspa Report Abuse Always award services and contracts to the lowest bid. Don't worry, what's the worst that can happen? Three weeks is not such a bad downtime at $1 mil every 30 seconds, is it?
SavALot Champion Author Virginia Beach Posts:8,474 Points:1,712,585 Joined:Apr 2005	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:07:26 PM Ignore SavALot Report Abuse So easy for these to be spread by people not paying attention
mamabeck Champion Author Florida Posts:1,658 Points:363,710 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:05:19 PM Ignore mamabeck Report Abuse Just shows how easily that entire operations and corporations can be subjected to major issues accidentally or purposely.
SpankyMI Champion Author Kalamazoo Posts:2,713 Points:760,255 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:04:57 PM Ignore SpankyMI Report Abuse Leave your USB drives at home!
PrinceLH Champion Author Ontario Posts:2,697 Points:539,020 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:04:20 PM Ignore PrinceLH Report Abuse More socialist bullshit!
cheaper0ON All-Star Author Ontario Posts:988 Points:399,030 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 9:04:18 PM Ignore cheaper0ON Report Abuse WoW!!!
Z51Corvette Champion Author Austin Posts:8,490 Points:1,672,145 Joined:Jan 2008	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:59:14 PM Ignore Z51Corvette Report Abuse bonzoo... go file for the job, lol! What a buffoon! Aren't the protocols to prevent something like this...
bonzoonfmb Champion Author Florida Posts:1,787 Points:645,560 Joined:Feb 2010	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:56:06 PM Ignore bonzoonfmb Report Abuse Poor IT management.
agent0077 All-Star Author Colorado Posts:699 Points:481,045 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:54:34 PM Ignore agent0077 Report Abuse It's hard to believe what can happen
jackster111 Champion Author North Carolina Posts:3,327 Points:425,560 Joined:Feb 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:53:11 PM Ignore jackster111 Report Abuse oh dear
mcmonsta Champion Author Honolulu Posts:3,232 Points:819,520 Joined:Sep 2009	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:52:21 PM Ignore mcmonsta Report Abuse don't more business realize whats possible nowadays or are they jut to keep head stuck in a hole
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,800 Points:414,390 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:51:50 PM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse This is what happens when people search for porn on the Internet from work.
tco9436 Champion Author Connecticut Posts:1,777 Points:723,250 Joined:Mar 2010	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:49:39 PM Ignore tco9436 Report Abuse Oh no
sent4456 Champion Author Toronto Posts:1,335 Points:2,125,985 Joined:Mar 2006	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:49:09 PM Ignore sent4456 Report Abuse Old news.
southrob Champion Author Tucson Posts:3,600 Points:688,175 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:48:39 PM Ignore southrob Report Abuse dhan to help economy
Jmac2008 Champion Author Missouri Posts:2,279 Points:882,115 Joined:Dec 2008	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:46:14 PM Ignore Jmac2008 Report Abuse and why did he have access to the computer
mstearno Champion Author Dayton Posts:8,071 Points:1,732,210 Joined:Jan 2008	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:45:15 PM Ignore mstearno Report Abuse this is scary
letmathe Champion Author Chicago Posts:14,316 Points:3,133,295 Joined:May 2001	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:44:12 PM Ignore letmathe Report Abuse Yipes!
GigHarborHound Champion Author Tacoma Posts:2,537 Points:488,490 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:42:58 PM Ignore GigHarborHound Report Abuse WOW!!!
bginsj Champion Author San Jose Posts:1,873 Points:1,235,610 Joined:May 2009	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:42:20 PM Ignore bginsj Report Abuse scary
DustyHorse Champion Author Virginia Posts:6,090 Points:1,392,330 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:39:12 PM Ignore DustyHorse Report Abuse Wow that is scary. They need to improve security at power plants.
boatmen Champion Author New York Posts:3,085 Points:622,805 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:37:54 PM Ignore boatmen Report Abuse going to happen more and more as we become reliant on machines and do away with humans
BREW9 All-Star Author Tampa Posts:886 Points:2,912,955 Joined:Jun 2004	Message Posted: Jan 17, 2013 8:33:43 PM Ignore BREW9 Report Abuse ok