Fergie's Tech Blog

'Cyber Attack' Aimed At Texas Electricity Provider

Robert Arnold writes on Click2Houston.com:

Local 2 Investigates has uncovered details about a so-called "cyber attack" on one of Texas' largest electricity providers, Local 2 reported.

A confidential e-mail obtained by Local 2 explains a "single IP address in China" tried 4,800 times to log in to the Lower Colorado River Authority's computer system.

In the e-mail the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas reports all login attempts failed and went on to term the incident a "suspected sabotage event." The e-mail explained the FBI had been notified.

According to its Web site the LCRA provides electricity to more than a million Texans in rural cities and towns. When contacted by Local 2, officials with the LCRA would "neither confirm, nor deny" the incident or the contents of the e-mail.

Officials with the FBI's Houston office also declined to comment.

When Local 2 contacted ERCOT we were referred to the North American Electricity Corp., which sets and oversees reliability standards, including cyber security, for the nation's electricity providers.

A spokesperson for NERC has yet to respond to our request for a comment, citing the holiday weekend.

posted by Fergie @ 4/03/2010 10:12:00 PM