The disclosure was made at a New Orleans security conference Friday attended by international government officials, engineers, and security managers. Article Source: Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek, January 18, 2008 06:15 PM .

It’s a scary thought, but not all that unusual. Think about all the tunnels and bridges in the US that are monitored by each State’s Department of Transportation. These systems use the internet to connect to remote devices that monitor things like fire, smoke andcarbon monoxide detection. Some of the systems also can sense pavement temperatures, traffic flow and speed, air temperature and moisture. They are usually refered to as a SCADA system. These systems provide input for other systems that control general lighting, signal lights, exhaust fans, etc, and if compromised, could be used to foul up traffic, cause accidents, or black out cities.

This has become such an issue that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved eight new mandatory critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards to protect the nation’s bulk power system against potential disruptions from cyber security breaches.

From their press release: FERC approves new reliability standards for cyber security, News Release: January 17, 2008 Docket No: RM06-22-000

“Today we achieve a milestone by adopting the first mandatory and enforceable reliability standards that address cyber security concerns on the bulk power system in the United States,” FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher said. “The electric industry now can move on to the implementation of the standards in conjunction with improvement of these standards in order to increase the security and reliability of the bulk power system.”

And if that’s not a wake-up call,
watch “The New Face of Cybercrime”

CIA Says Hackers Have Cut Power Grid
Several cities outside the U.S. have sustained attacks on utility systems and extortion demands.
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service, Saturday, January 19, 2008 6:00 AM PST

The United States isn’t the only country feeling the pressure from cyber criminals. Other countrys have also been hit. Hackers have tried extorting money before creating a black out in some foreign cities.