Quote of the day
posted at 10:45 pm on May 29, 2008 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
“One prominent expert told National Journal he believes that China’s People’s Liberation Army played a role in the [2003 northeast] power outages. Tim Bennett, the former president of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, a leading trade group, said that U.S. intelligence officials have told him that the PLA in 2003 gained access to a network that controlled electric power systems serving the northeastern United States. The intelligence officials said that forensic analysis had confirmed the source, Bennett said. “They said that, with confidence, it had been traced back to the PLA.” These officials believe that the intrusion may have precipitated the largest blackout in North American history, which occurred in August of that year. A 9,300-square-mile area, touching Michigan, Ohio, New York, and parts of Canada, lost power; an estimated 50 million people were affected.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages:
Sending all those factories over there during the Clinton administration sure has made the Chinese into staunch allies, hasn’t it? Boy, it really helped that Jimmy Carter helped them get control of the Panama Canal too.
Trading with people doesn’t magically turn them into friends.
Did you have the story about the commerce secretary’s laptop being hacked while he was over there? I’ll go look.
funky chicken on May 29, 2008 at 10:49 PM
U.S. Probes Whether China Copied Laptop During Commerce Secretary’s Visit
Thursday, May 29, 2008
WASHINGTON — U.S. authorities are investigating whether Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and used the information to try to hack into the department’s computers.
Officials and industry experts have told The Associated Press the investigation involves a trip in December.
People familiar with the incident have told the AP that surreptitious copying is believed to have occurred when a laptop was left unattended during Gutierrez’s trip to Beijing for trade talks.
These people spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident is under investigation.
Gutierrez told the AP on Thursday he could not discuss the matter because of the investigation.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,360266,00.html
funky chicken on May 29, 2008 at 10:50 PM
FEAR-MONGER!!
What we need is socialized medicine.
misterpeasea on May 29, 2008 at 10:53 PM
Never mind their army/navy/weapons. Fear the REAL ChiCom threat.
My collie says:
CyberCipher on May 29, 2008 at 10:53 PM
I stepped off a roller coaster at Cedar Point about 5 mins before the power went off. AT the time I suspected terrorism – I just thought it was the Islamofascist kind. I learned that day that autoflush toilets and sinks SUCK.
HawaiiLwyr on May 29, 2008 at 10:57 PM
Yes, that isn’t too paranoid at all. Coverup!!!!
Krydor on May 29, 2008 at 11:03 PM
bush obviously must have done something to antagonize the chinese into shutting down our grid. its not like the chinese would want to flex their strategic muscles or anything.
next thing you know they’ll be shooting down satellites, stalking our carriers, blocking our actions in the UN, arming mugabe, co-opting the sudan, and tying their interests to every anti american leftist government in south america.
nah! back to sleep little children. auntie pelosi and her pet obama will tell you when there is a problem.
elduende on May 29, 2008 at 11:03 PM
The economic damage from that incident was quite large. This is quite a big story. It’s a lot more than just saber rattling; it should be considered an attack and an act of war if true.
Now, we shouldn’t escalate militarily, but economically–that’s another story. We should revoke most favored nation status with China as punishment.
BryanS on May 29, 2008 at 11:04 PM
Generators are cheap….now. You might never need it but then again you just might.
Limerick on May 29, 2008 at 11:06 PM
Why are we only now hearing about this?
Entelechy on May 29, 2008 at 11:07 PM
No more Chow Mein for me, dammit!
Travis1 on May 29, 2008 at 11:08 PM
Uhhh, yeeeah. That’s not good. If I remember correctly, there were suspicious blackouts in the UK and Scandinavia following the one we had.
CP on May 29, 2008 at 11:11 PM
My former preacher always said China would start “the end times”.
SouthernGent on May 29, 2008 at 11:11 PM
Of course, we haven’t heard these suspicions for political reasons. Maybe there was some value to not letting on that we knew above and beyond any value in not alarming the public.
BryanS on May 29, 2008 at 11:16 PM
The Chinese have about twenty years to get what they can while they can; all those extra men without any available women is going to make them mighty ornery. A demographic time bomb.
Considering the dreadful like expectancy of Russian men, Putin might want to start mining his border with China. Heavily.
Bishop on May 29, 2008 at 11:19 PM
So who will finally get to have overlord status of the earth, the Chinese or the muslims? Figuring that out would make for some mighty interesting handicapping.
Bishop on May 29, 2008 at 11:22 PM
http://renu.citizenre.com/
Generator or rent a solar system?
funky chicken on May 29, 2008 at 11:23 PM
Generators are sexier.
Limerick on May 29, 2008 at 11:25 PM
General T’so wins every time.
SouthernGent on May 29, 2008 at 11:26 PM
Can you say Cold War? Yes you can!
I knew it was coming. This time we need China Russia, Iran and Syria, one country just won’t due.
Theworldisnotenough on May 29, 2008 at 11:28 PM
test
ThackerAgency on May 29, 2008 at 11:30 PM
Ok, so why is there consensus amongst the HA readership that this story has ANY merit whatsoever? I’m calling BS on this one.
Krydor on May 29, 2008 at 11:35 PM
Why are we only now hearing about this?
Entelechy on May 29, 2008 at 11:07 PM
Hah LOL!
is anyone surprised? why? Its out there everything i mentioned about the chinese in my comment above is happening now or has happened in the past 2 years. add to the list the fact that the Chinese, as a rising strategic antagonist, are probing our military defenses every minute of every day.
elduende on May 29, 2008 at 11:37 PM
oh and i have no doubt that we are actively probing their defenses too.
elduende on May 29, 2008 at 11:40 PM
A buddy of mine once told me that all us good guys are just about 40 milliseconds from all those bad guys. No matter where they are whether it’s Baghdad or Beijing, Seattle or Shanghai, if there’s a broadband connection they can reach out and touch you.
SCADA systems are our biggest threat. I would almost bet my salary that this is the culprit in this case.
Yeah. I buy it.
Pilgrim on May 30, 2008 at 12:03 AM
Seems I recall Microsoft agreeing to give China their Windows source code as well. I remember hoping the Pentagon’s computers weren’t running Windows.
kc8ukw on May 30, 2008 at 12:15 AM
Muslims. The Chinese are aborting too many of their females, and will suffer a stunning demographic collapse within the next 50 years. Muslims, not limited to one child per family, don’t gender select and are therefore capable of replacing themselves, or even expanding their demographic.
Blacklake on May 30, 2008 at 12:19 AM
Well, now that we have earthquake makin’ tech, I say bring it.
Rhinoboy on May 30, 2008 at 12:20 AM
Whether or not the blackouts were the result of Chinese action, rest assured that the Chinese military is aggressively working on hacking US security and infrastructure networks, for reasons of both intelligence gathering and, perhaps, future sabotage.
The reasons you can be utterly certain this is happening are: A) China easily has the technical capability and personnel to do this, and B) it is objectively in China’s strategic interest to do this. Simply put, they can do it, and if they aren’t doing it, they are fools.
Blacklake on May 30, 2008 at 12:25 AM
Or at least makes some mighty fine tastin’ chicken.
bikermailman on May 30, 2008 at 1:03 AM
And the man who was behind the Torrijos-Carter Treaties (relinquishing U.S. control of the Panama Canal after 1999) is now an advisor to Obama. Really.
His name is comrade Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski thus spent some of his earliest years witnessing the rise of the Nazis. From 1936 to 1938, Zbigniew’s father Tadeusz Brzeziński was posted to the Soviet Union during Stalin’s Great Purge.
Red Pill on May 30, 2008 at 1:08 AM
Not to mention the Made In China mundane-looking consumer digital picture frames that hack into your computer when you download digital photos into them, and then secretly email all your info to Shanghai.
China is a Pirate State.
And should be trusted about as far as we can throw the Great Wall with one hand.
profitsbeard on May 30, 2008 at 1:18 AM
Let them probe, it’s a good thing. Their covert actions (which are really overt attacks against the US), will eventually get them into the deepest darkest shit imaginable.
Bring it on…
winemkr on May 30, 2008 at 1:26 AM
I could see the possibility of a terrorist from china or a smaller possibility that the Chinise military was testing their ability to shut us down. China is a aggressive nation, but I doubt they would show themselves so openly.
I will wait for more info on this one.
allrsn on May 30, 2008 at 1:35 AM
I hope China is not poisoning my Chinese food too.
Is it going to be “blame China” instead of “blame Bush?”
Are we preparing ourselves so when 2009 comes it will be “blame China” era?
I’m not here to defend China, but shouldn’t we verify the information to make sure that China has Weapons of Mass Destruction before invading it?
Indy Conservative on May 30, 2008 at 1:48 AM
I’m currently reading Tom Clancy’s The Bear and The Dragon, so all of this seems surreal to me. Tom Clancy can get spooky (literally) sometimes….
pookysgirl on May 30, 2008 at 2:29 AM
The Chinese have about twenty years to get what they can while they can; all those extra men without any available women is going to make them mighty
ornerygay. Ademographicgay time bomb.gmoonster on May 30, 2008 at 2:36 AM
Today Nancy Pelosi gives China credit for their cooperation and help in keeping electric power running.
hadsil on May 30, 2008 at 2:37 AM
Because someone decided it would be useful to release this information at this time
Therefore, your question is the key question
It is also the only question we cannot answer. even with web searches
I consider the blatant free trade status given tyrant China to be the most craven form of appeasement. It beats the kow-towing to the OPEC oil barons many fold.
The muslim oil barons intend to colonize the world using their oil soaked privileged immigration status in all oil hungry nations.
The Chinese fascist capitalists have a drive to subjugation based more upon cultural-racial superiority beliefs that makes them the new Nazis. The Chinese generals have studied Hitler, his successes and failures. They have taken the same intial path as Hitler who for years gathered information on the world he intended to conquer.
Hitler had a Ministry of Information that collected all the stats on the docks, factories, refineries, stockpiles, and external raw material requirements of the enemy. Hitler had sleeper agents planted across the world.
Nazi Germany was like China, short of oil, and other raw materials. Nazi Germany also craved seaports. However the Nazis were underpopulated while China is overpopulated and considers the populations currently grazing in foreign lands to be wasters of resources that could be better utilized by the superior Chinese nation.
Tibet is Poland, with the ores and waters of the Himalyas instead of Polish seaports and shipyards.
Many of the American upper crust admired Hitler for his ‘innovation’. Today’s equivalent are the wealthy distributors of Chinese made American brand names who think we cannot win the coming war with China and so hope that by facilitating the transfer of technology and customers to the new Nazis they will be allowed to retain their distributorships in the new Chinese Empire.
Fools
Trying to cut a deal with locusts
entagor on May 30, 2008 at 4:27 AM
I second your recommendation for caution. Unfortunately for China’s “brand,” the story is quite plausible given their demonstrated willingness to poison their customers with lead paint (toys), antifreeze (toothpaste and counterfeit medicines), known hacking and officially-sanctioned cyber mischief/warfare, etc.
Having dealt with complex computer systems for many years, though, I’d like much more solid confirmation of this story before pointing the conclusive finger of blame.
Gilda on May 30, 2008 at 5:03 AM
The very idea that anyone could sabotage our power systems should be very sobering and lead to a demand not only for tighter security, but for swift action against the perpetrators. Unfortunately, there are too many people who fail to recognize the seriousness of this potential–many will view it within the limited context of “My power was out for a few hours.”
Even if a power outage were the only potential outcome, it is serious–how many people depend upon power for survival? We just read the story of the lady who lived in the iron lung for 50 years, and died when the power went out–how many other people are on life-supporting machines? How many people have frail health that places them in danger when the temperature is too high? In the South, we hear warnings every summer about the elderly protecting themselves from the heat, and I’m sure there are similar warnings everywhere.
But losing power isn’t the only ramification. We can bet that attacks are not limited to our electric systems (e.g., computer hackers trying to access the Pentagon). And the evidence indicates that these ramifications will not be taken seriously, either–Tim Russert was completely baffled by the indifference of our country to Bill Clinton’s sale of secrets to the Chinese.
BryanS is right–this should be treated as an act of war and responded to, at the very least, with an economic pounding. It won’t be, though, because 1) It won’t be reported, certainly in any thoughtful or significant way, 2) Washington is loaded with opportunistic cretins whose only response will be to dismiss this as unimportant if they can’t politicize it to attack the other party, and 3) heaven forbid we should do anything that could be viewed as a restriction on “free trade.” And, quite apparently, the American public will moo contentedly until they realize the milking barn is actually a slaughterhouse.
DrMagnolias on May 30, 2008 at 6:05 AM
Ah, the enduring legacy of The Accidental President Harry S. Truman.
Comes a time when the failures of past leaders catch up with you. May have taken fifty odd years, but it would seem they’ve arrived and at the worst possible time.
SuperCool on May 30, 2008 at 7:40 AM
One might be able to argue that the blackouts weren’t caused by a cyber attack (although I am inclined to believe they were). However, everything else that is laid out in this story sounds very credible indeed and we ignore the threat at our peril.
Are you one of those people complain that we are spending too much money on the military, when we have so many other priorities, like government funding of preschool?
But hey, why worry? If Barry is sworn in in 2009 all our problems will be solved and Barry will charm the Chinese into submission.
Buy Danish on May 30, 2008 at 10:08 AM
This response is coming up close to 20+ hrs. later and let me say that: YOU’RE A FOOL!!!and btw….nmynwte.
jerrytbg on May 30, 2008 at 9:30 PM
Comment pages: