Bush Says Electrical Grid Is Outdated

[Gary Stoneburner <gary.stoneburner@nist.gov>]

re:
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_BLACKOUT?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

""It's a wake-up call," Bush said. "The grid needs to
be modernized, the delivery systems need to be modernized. We've got an
antiquated system." "

I suspect that it comes as no real surprise to a number of people, just
how fragile and interconnected the power-grid is.  Yet to many this
is "surprise" and "we have to do something". 
President Bush calls it a wake-up call.  We can be thankful that the
disruption was not due to terrorism (all current indications being made
public, which is also all that I know). Now the vulnerability is clear
and, hopefully, will be addressed before the terrorist exploits
it.

Take this as a lesson for our work in getting better cyber
defenses.  The weaknesses are there, have been there, and by all
indications will remain there.  Continue to work even though a
"wake-up call" may be necessary for the weaknesses to stop
being "surprises".

Cheers,
Gary

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* Opinions expressed are not intended to reflect an official position
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* Gary Stoneburner
* Computer Security Division, National Institute of Standards & Technology
* 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8930, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930         
* Phone: 301-975-5394, FAX: 301-948-0279, Email: Stoneburner@nist.gov
* http://csrc.nist.gov/staff/stoneburner/gshome.html
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