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Sector Report for Monday, 31 October 2011: Infrastructure protection
This report contains the following stories.
Plus 1 additional story.
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More than 18,000 bridges in metro areas structurally deficient
A recently released report found that more than 18,000 U.S. bridges in the busiest cities are “structurally deficient”; each day 75 percent of all traffic crosses one of these deficient bridges and in cities like Los Angeles, an average of 396 drivers cross a deficient bridge every second
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Electrical grid targeted by hackers
The co-chair of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus warns that U.S. electrical grids are becoming increasingly attractive targets for hackers in a potential cyberwar
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Napolitano: hackers "came close" to shutting down critical infrastructure
On Thursday DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano revealed that hackers have “come close” to shutting down parts of the nation’s critical infrastructure; at a press conference Napolitano stated that hackers have attempted to infiltrate financial systems, transportation networks, and other key elements of U.S. critical infrastructure, making cyberattacks on these facilities one of her top concerns
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Formation of Senate and House rare Earth minerals caucuses urged
The Association for Rare Earth yesterday urged the creation of Senate and House caucuses to focus on the challenges of securing supplies of rare Earth elements for U.S. high technology, clean energy, and defense communities
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New Stuxnet-like virus hits Europe
The dreaded Stuxnet worm, which was the first instance of a computer virus creating physical damage, may have spawned a dangerous new piece of malware; researchers at Symantec believe they have discovered a new computer virus that uses many of the same techniques in European computers
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FBI better prepared to thwart bioterror attack on U.S.
The FBI says that in the decade since deadly anthrax spores were sent through the mail in 2001, killing five people and sickening twenty-two others, it has made significant advances in efforts to prevent and identify bio-terror threats
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Squirrel causes explosion, knocks out Connecticut town’s power
Last week more than 14,000 homes in Greenwich, Connecticut were left without power after a squirrel managed to find its way into a substation and caused an explosion that sent flames shooting 150 feet into the air
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A precursor to the next Stuxnet discovered
Symantec reports the discovery of a sample malware that appeared to be very similar to Stuxnet, the malware which wreaked havoc in Iran’s nuclear centrifuge farms last summer; the new malware — dubbed Duqu — is essentially the precursor to a future Stuxnet-like attack; the threat was written by the same authors (or those that have access to the Stuxnet source code); Duqu gathers intelligence data and assets from entities, such as industrial control system manufacturers, in order more easily to conduct a future attack against another third party
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Improving critical infrastructure protection
Salt River Project (SRP), the U.S. third-largest public power utility, recently announced that it had teamed with Quantum Secure to help protect its facilities
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Creating incentives to purchase disaster insurance
Natural disasters have become more common and more expensive – still, death, injury, and financial losses can be reduced through incentives to purchase insurance and install protective measures
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Engineering lessons of Fukushima
Many engineers and scientists are still examining what happened at Fukushima during the earthqyake and tsunami of 11 March; one group, a Tsunami Loads-and-Effects Subcommittee sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), is preparing to publish early next year an approximately 350-page report
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Blackberry service disruption spreads across North America
Research in Motion announced earlier today that the 3-day disruption of the company’s e-mail services has now spread across North America; it is the worst such disruption of service in two years; analysts say it is a major blow to the already-struggling company; not only individuals, but also private companies and government agencies may now reconsider their reliance on Blackberrys as their preferred mode of communication
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Reducing exposure to groundwater arsenic
Well diggers in Bangladesh will soon be able to take advantage of a cell phone-based data system, developed at the Earth Institute, to target safe groundwater aquifers for installing new wells that are not tainted with arsenic
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Rising political, economic tensions over critical minerals
The clean energy economy of the future hinges on many things, chief among them the availability of the scores of rare Earth minerals and other elements used to make everything from photovoltaic panels and cellphone displays to the permanent magnets in cutting edge new wind generators; trouble is, China currently controls about 97 percent of the mining and production of the minerals, and it is using that control to give Chinese companies an advantage and for political pressure on other countries
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The long view
Helping Strengthen America’s Critical Infrastructure
Everyday life depends on a robust infrastructure network that provides access to running water, communications technology and electricity, among other basic necessities. The experts who keep our national infrastructure secure and resilient also need a strong network to share their knowledge and train the next generation of professionals capable of solving complex infrastructure challenges.
AI and the Future of the U.S. Electric Grid
Despite its age, the U.S. electric grid remains one of the great workhorses of modern life. Whether it can maintain that performance over the next few years may determine how well the U.S. competes in an AI-driven world.