Anonymous has so far plied its trade in “hactivist” exploits. But according to the director of the National Security Agency, it might soon turn its focus to U.S. infrastructure.
According to the Wall side road magazine, bringing up sources, Gen. Keith Alexander has said in private conferences on the White area and in other places that the U.S. will have to stay a detailed eye on nameless’ enlargement. He reportedly warned that if the group continues to realize power, it will even take down part of the us power grid within the next couple of years.
How serious might such an attack on the power grid be? An industry official speaking to the Journal said that the U.S. grid has backups in place to safeguard against attacks. For a limited period of time, however, it could cause trouble.
The NSA’s concerns about nameless underscore the facility the loosely affiliated staff of individuals has secured in up to date months. The organization played a task in the scandal surrounding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, retaliating after Assange’s financial institution bills have been frozen and techniques of donations bring to a halt through bank card companies and fee services like PayPal. nameless has continued to focus on people and groups, all with the objective of embarrassing them or revealing what it believes is are injustices.
Anonymous has made no indication that it plans to attack the power grid. And its hacks, while decried by government officials, are celebrated by others who say the group is acting on the average citizen’s behalf.
Lately, then again, anonymous has became its consideration towards governments. in advance this month, the hacking collective claimed to have taken down the CIA’s web website, as well as web pages for the Mexican Senate and interior Ministry. the crowd additionally revealed that it accessed picking information, including Social security numbers and legal records, of 46,000 Alabama residents.
Those hacks came just days after Anonymous released hundreds of e-mails purported to come from Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s office.
Securing the electrical grid from both hackers and other governments has been a concern for years. So far, however, the U.S. government can’t quite decide which agency should be charged with managing its security.
In December, MIT researchers issued a report saying that a single federal agency should be safeguarding the electrical grid. The Obama Administration has argued that the Department of Homeland Security should handle the task, while members of Congress have called on the Department of Energy or Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to take over.
Regardless, MIT isn’t convinced that the threats to the electrical grid are something to be too concerned about. The researchers said that only complacency could lead to its downfall.”among now and 2030, the electric grid will confront vital new demanding situations and necessarily go through prime changes,” the researchers said. “in spite of alarmistrhetoric, there is no crisis here. But we do not advise complacency.”