Utilities called 'contested territory' in cyber attacks

 There's a very troubling piece in the current issue of EnergyBiz magazine, titled "Utilities are Contested Territories."

Author Alan Paller says that the CEOs of major utilities are being briefed by the FBI that they need to treat their networks and systems as if they are 'contested territory.'

The problem he says is that cyber attackers have penetrated the utilities and set up deeply buried connections to outside controllers.   He goes on to describe how the attacks are the same as those orchestrated against the defense industries and governments.   Cyber security has become an 'arms race.'  And the utilities are rushing to shore up their defences.

One can only imagine the chaos if an enemy could take control of even small parts of the nation's power system.