The Robots are coming (Page 96)  kittybobo34: True there are defenses set up, but like any company it only takes one idiot employee... Most Companies could save themselves allot of risk by keeping Employee Email off their own computers. That is where most of it comes in, the other is employees with laptops that they take home. (Edited by kittybobo34) zeffur: One idiot isn't going make a lasting difference.. There are monitoring & alarms built into the systems. Now if someone bombed the custom transformers at 9 critical power facilities in the US, well that would cause major disruptions for quite a long period of time... Here is a blurb that addresses some of the issues & the political motivations propagandizing it: "The audacious ransomware attack that shut down a major fuel pipeline and sent Americans scrambling for gasoline in the Southeast this week was not the first time hackers have disrupted America’s aging, vulnerable energy infrastructure. And it’s unlikely to be the last. Across the globe, cyberattackers are increasingly taking aim at the energy systems that underpin modern society. A February report from IBM found that the energy industry was the third most targeted sector for such attacks in 2020, behind only finance and manufacturing. That was up from ninth place in 2019. “This should be a wake-up call,” said Jonathon Monken, a principal at the energy consulting firm Converge Strategies. “When you look at what’s most likely to cause disruptions to energy companies today, I think you have to put cybersecurity risks at the top.” Despite years of warnings, America’s vast network of pipelines, electric grids and power plants remains acutely vulnerable to cyberattacks with the potential to disrupt energy supplies for millions of people. Dealing with those risks, analysts said, will pose a major challenge for the Biden administration as it seeks hundreds of billions of dollars to modernize the nation’s energy infrastructure and transition to cleaner sources of energy to address climate change. Regulators are increasingly poised to step in. On Monday, Richard Glick, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said it was time to establish mandatory cybersecurity standards for the nation’s nearly 3 million miles of oil and gas pipelines, similar to those currently found in the electricity sector. “Simply encouraging pipelines to voluntarily adopt best practices is an inadequate response to the ever-increasing number and sophistication of malevolent cyber actors,” Mr. Glick said in a statement. The risks to the nation’s energy systems are widespread and varied. Many oil and gas pipelines, for instance, rely on decades-old control systems that are not well defended against more sophisticated cyberattacks and can’t be easily updated. And it’s not just pipelines. As electric grid operators harness a growing array of digital technologies to help manage the flow of power and cut planet-warming emissions — such as smart thermostats, or far-flung yet interconnected networks of solar arrays — hackers may find new entry points to exploit. The shutdown on Friday of the Colonial Pipeline, which stretches 5,500 miles from Texas to New Jersey and transports 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel supplies, illustrates how devastating such attacks can be. On Saturday, Colonial acknowledged that its corporate computer systems had been hit by a ransomware attack, in which criminal groups hold data hostage until the victim pays a ransom. The company said that it had shut down the pipeline as a precaution, apparently for fear that the hackers might have obtained information that would enable them to attack parts of the pipeline itself. Colonial said on Wednesday that it had started to resume pipeline operations, though it would take several days to restore full service. But throughout the Southeast, panicked Americans were racing to stock up on gasoline, causing thousands of gas stations to run out of fuel." (Edited by zeffur) zeffur: While it is true that a hacker *may* be able to hack into your NEST temp system to change the temp setpoint & potentially cause water pipes to freeze & break or to waste lots of energy, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to do these days. Most good IoT devices already have encryption & it will likely be corporate lawsuit suicide if companies make devices that causes any serious class action lawsuit to prevail against them. It is also a lot easier & economical to pass laws that force businesses to implement isolated private networks on critical systems & to encrypt customer data & ensure decryption servers are hacker proof--or face steep fines & other penalties. Getting the govt involved beyond that will only create massive additional costs for taxpayers & businesses alike. (Edited by zeffur)  Fractured fairy tale: Hows Chronolgy Oh your gonna Miss out Its going to be The Smart Country , Oh yeah Right Exactly Why The Westen world Is In this Position in the First Place , Every one thinks there so Smart and beyond any type of Manual Labour or Manufacturing , Bye it all off China There not above it , And there doing Quite well outn of it in case no one Has noticed Fractured fairy tale: there too Bussy Patting them selves on the back and bragging How Highly Educated they are And hanging there Latest Social Science degree on the wall that does no one any good Fractured fairy tale: I wasn"t talking to You Zepher Go play with your computer and Brag How educated you are Your a Hero you Know A hero to your self Fractured fairy tale: Ford Shuttting down Its Manufaturing Plants hey Cos they Can"t get Computer chips , Where do they Come from Zepher Texas and Self Proclimed hily educated people like your self LOL Fractured fairy tale: Gee Thats origional zepher you tell that to Every one , Gee your the Man ant ya Whats Wrong did you Shed some Tears For Chronolgy Fractured fairy tale: oh poor zeffer Whats Wrong Don"t like Desent Your ego that out of control hey good for you mate Fractured fairy tale: so Tell Me Zeffer Seeing as Tho You obvously Think of your self as "the Smart Country" as Chronology Aluded too witch is nothing more that 1990's Propaganda , Care to tell us Why You don"t make compuer chips , Seeing as tho your obvously So offended by the reality that there not Fractured fairy tale: Don"t worry I will answer it for Ya , Seeing as tho it hard for you , You think Elon musk would of gone into partnership with chinese companies for the techknolgy for Lithium ion Battieies to use in there Tesla cars , if What Chronology Said was true and Were Going to be Gifed Great American know how Fractured fairy tale: Wow that's integent living up to your boast about being so educted' and all . I'm surprised you didn't go with your usual retort of letting your Insecurity show by going you hate America lol boo hoo zephie don't cry too hard little boy Fractured fairy tale: It's ok I get it you can only repeat what you read of a the hive . copy and paste away lol  ghostgeek: There does seem to be a slight hiccup in the supply of electronic chips which could last for another year or more and shows how dependent the world has become on a small number of producers. Quite frightening, really, how we're just a hair's breath away from disaster all the time.  chronology: Ghost, there are many different kinds of Chips. The Chips which are used in sensitive machinery on Royal Navy and U.S. Navy ships etc and Air Force Machinery are manufactured in America and England. Consumer goods chips are produced in a few countries. Zef can explain this best, he used to be in that business. It is not just security for the Armed Forces, it is about reliability. The Chip in a heart pacemaker is way more reliable than one put into a kids toy. Fractured fairy tale: Zef and Chrononogy Joined at the Butt and mouth are they , What give up your Love robot Chronology lol ghostgeek: If there's a shortage of chips for the Christmas toy market, civilization will be teetering on the brink of collapse. Fractured fairy tale: Is it a good Ider Being so religiant on Computer Chips too run every thing all it Does Is Make every one Religiant on Big buiness Insurance companys Service centers and so called "computer Technians" to fix any thing , But some people think they Know what best for every one else | Politics Chat Room 88 People Chatting Similar Conversations |