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Largest Public Power Grid at Cyber Risk, Feds Say

The network controlling the country's largest public electric company could be taken down by cyber-hackers because it fails to take basic best-practice security measures, a federal report says.

By Tim Greene, Network World (US)

When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved network security guidelines for power companies earlier this year, it said that power company officials acknowledge that some of their gear was so old it could not readily adhere to the rules.

Winkler says the GAO report on TVA applies to the power industry in general, and fixing just the TVA is not the way to go. "The government is trying to find a specific fire to put out," he says. "Everybody looks for an example instead of addressing the problem until you see the devastating attacks, and then everyone will overreact.

"There is no reason to drastically overreact if they take action now," he says.

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