U.S. Electrical Grid Hacked by China and Russia

Well, we certainly can't say we didn't see it coming.  This relates pretty directly to my earlier post on the Cybersecurity act currently making the rounds in Congress.  The WSJ article on the electrical grid hacks connects these as well.  While I have no doubt that hackers would certainly like to target our infrastructure, this is strange timing.

The most interesting piece of the article in my mind is that the current network in the U.S. is actually 3 in 1, the East, the West, and Texas.  Looks like a great idea Texas has there, the grid should probably be divided into even more segments.  I wonder which portion of the grid appears to be the most vulnerable?

Another question I have about this...why in the world are these systems even connected directly to the internet?  What good could possibly come from that?  If something doesn't need full network access it should NOT receive it.