Hiroshima, 2.0

[Onkel Neal]

"People aren't aware that everything has changed."

type the words "Cyber attack" and "generator" into YouTube. The first result should be a short clip from the Department of Homeland Security, leaked to CNN a couple of years ago, showing an electric generator under a simulated cyberattack at the Idaho National Laboratory. Within seconds the generator begins to shake violently. Within a minute, it's up in smoke.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123966785804815355.html

[Skybird]

This is one of the fields were the Chinese' power easily can turn from "soft" to "hard" with us even being unable to point fingers at them. It's a kind of combat that bypasses the ordinary "line" military completele, and it is the next logical step on the ladder of guerilla- and urban warfare-evolution.

A green politician in some interview last year was asked about such threats. His smiling reply was "But who would even wish to do that to us?"

Problem solved!


Als der Zirkus in Flammen stand
ist auch ein Vogelstrauss verbrannt,
denn der gute Vogel tauchte
als sein Hinterteil schon rauchte
seinen Kopf standhaft in den Sand,
hehehehehe!

(Georg Kreisler)

[Schroeder]

Oh yes, the greens....
Boy and I even voted for them a few years back.

[Oberon]

Ah yes, the new war. This kind of thing has been coming since the birth of the net and the increasing technological intergration.

[AVGWarhawk]

Conficker.

[SteamWake]

Looks like someone defeated the overcurrent device on that generator. If it had been working properly it never would have smoked the genset windings.

Pretty spectacular stuff but there is something wrong with that video. I cannot forsee any kind of force that could be applied to a generator that would make it jump like that short of an explosion or earthquake. Ive even witnessed "arc flash" experiments where a 'bolted fault' (short circuit) was applied to a generator of about that size, it dident jump, it dident 'shake', it 'sagged' or bogged down for about 10 cycles (1/6th of a second) and shut itself down. But that bolted fault (a large switch) went up in a huge flash, bang, and puff of smoke.

Id like to consider myself an 'expert' when it comes to power generation distribution and control, its what I do for a living.

Not to dismiss the concearn, the grid could be overwhelmed and shut down but your not going to see generators exploding. Besides generators are (with some excpetions) a standby power source and are in no way connected to the grid. They are physically isolated by a transfer switch.

The generators that you get power from when you plug in your toaaster are very different animals.