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12
Sep

ISIS hackers and the vulnerability of the Department of Energy

September 12, 2015

It may not be a surprise that the Department of Energy was hacked over one thousand times in just 4 years. There have been numerous attacks on many government agencies and they are only getting worse. How much damage has and can be done?

Back in 2011, the worst blackout in Southern California’s history occurred at approximately 3:27 p.m. After finding out that there was a widespread system failure the first thought in nearly everyone’s mind, “Was this a terrorist act?”

Investigation into the San Diego blackout determined that the cause was a result of an employee cutting the wrong line. The damage cost millions, caused a gridlock for hours, and put several million people in the dark for nearly two days in the midst of summer. This would be an example of what could happen, but imagine on a much bigger scale.

In 2013 the hacker group Anonymous announced openly of their successful attempt to get into the DoE’s system. This was when the vulnerability became more evident to the American people. Since then many have been able to do the same, even stealing employee’s private information.

The question is, what has the DoE done about it? It appears they’ve done nothing. Just recently it was reported on a security website in July 2015 that pro-ISIS hackers were able to deface the DoE’s Office of Science in Illinois, posting the ISIS logo and a prayer in Arabic. In addition to the DoE, they also infiltrated the National Research Council of Engineering, ICT and Technology for Energy and Transport.

On Sept 12, Anonymous posted a tweet that said Britain’s top secret gov’t emails had been intercepted by ISIS hackers.

On 9/11 ISIS hackers for a second time released a kill list of 100 U.S. military officers that included their names, photos, rank, divisions and address.

While some fear border security and others look to the refugee crisis as ways that ISIS can infiltrate and harm Americans, the sad reality is that they can probably do even more damage through a distant internet connection.