> Attacks against the power grid are weak because, in almost every scenario you can conjure, the remediation is just disconnecting the network and flipping the on switch.
In two of the last four winters, I've lost power for extended periods of 4 and 5 days, respectively. It's not fun, and even with friends, family and businesses in the area that did still have power that we could depend on, it was difficult. These types of issues are not flip the switch to reset, there is physical damage that needs to be repaired. Imagine this on a much larger scale and it is pretty scary.
If you've never watched the document Zero Days [1], I recommend it. Towards the end, they mention (and the documentary pulls from quotes and testimony of many intelligence personnel) that Olympic Games (Stuxnet) is just the tip of the iceberg, and that we essentially own Iran top to bottom. We completely own their power grid and could destroy strategic pieces of it in the same way we destroyed the centrifuges..using only code. They state that with something like this it could take weeks or months to fully get power restored. Considering the fact that water plants, refrigeration, businesses, etc. depend on that power, access to clean food and water would likely be severely limited, probably also leading to looting, riots and violence...a not-insignificant number of innocent civilians would certainly die.
In two of the last four winters, I've lost power for extended periods of 4 and 5 days, respectively. It's not fun, and even with friends, family and businesses in the area that did still have power that we could depend on, it was difficult. These types of issues are not flip the switch to reset, there is physical damage that needs to be repaired. Imagine this on a much larger scale and it is pretty scary.
If you've never watched the document Zero Days [1], I recommend it. Towards the end, they mention (and the documentary pulls from quotes and testimony of many intelligence personnel) that Olympic Games (Stuxnet) is just the tip of the iceberg, and that we essentially own Iran top to bottom. We completely own their power grid and could destroy strategic pieces of it in the same way we destroyed the centrifuges..using only code. They state that with something like this it could take weeks or months to fully get power restored. Considering the fact that water plants, refrigeration, businesses, etc. depend on that power, access to clean food and water would likely be severely limited, probably also leading to looting, riots and violence...a not-insignificant number of innocent civilians would certainly die.
[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5446858/