January 22, 2008

Hackers have the power

The CIA has admitted that there have been some sustained attacks on utility systems; with a view to blackmail the companies into paying up to keep their systems safe.

Hackers with criminal intentions have been getting into the central computer systems via the internet and have actually cut off the power to cities and other places. But this is a CIA report and so the attacks have been happening outside the States, which is more worrying for the rest of us.

It would seem to be a team effort, which is why this sort of problem is classed as criminal rather than just a hacker messing around for the sake of it. But there are more serious implications here where if a criminal gang can simply shut off the power to a city, then what sort of damage can a government do?

Source [PC World]