The following report was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.com
The global cyberwarfare scare washed ashore the British isles this weekend after UK nuclear power stations and airports were told to tighten defenses against terrorist attacks in the face of increased threats to electronic security systems, after intelligence agencies concluded terrorists could plant explosives in laptops and mobile phones that won’t be caught by normal security screenings.
The Telegraph reports that British security services issued a series of alerts in the past 24 hours, warning that “terrorists may have developed ways of bypassing safety checks.”
To be sure, there was no surprise as to the bogeyman behind the latest terror threat: intel agencies believe that ISIS and other terrorist groups have developed ways to plant explosives in laptops and mobile phones that can evade airport security screening methods.
What is perhaps surprising, is that it is this latest intelligence which is said to be behind the recent bans, in both the US and UK, of travellers from a number of countries carrying laptops and large electronic devices on board. Furthermore, “there are concerns that terrorists will use the techniques to bypass screening devices at European and US airports.”
There are also fears that computer hackers were trying to bypass nuclear power station security measures. Government officials have warned that terrorists, foreign spies and “hacktivists” are looking to exploit “vulnerabilities” in the nuclear industry’s internet defences. Energy minister Jesse Norman told The Telegraph that nuclear plants must make sure that they “remain resilient to evolving cyber threats”.
Norman said: “The Government is fully committed to defending the UK against cyber threats, with a £1.9 billion investment designed to transform this country’s cyber security.”He said the civil nuclear strategy published in February sets out ways to ensure that the civil nuclear sector “can defend against, recover from, and remain resilient to evolving cyber threats”.
Meanwhile, back in the US, intelligence officials have warned that groups including ISIS and al-Qaeda may have developed ways to build bombs in laptops and other electronic devices that can fool airport security. There are fears that terrorists made the breakthrough after obtaining airport screening equipment to allow them to experiment. FBI experts have tested how the explosives can be hidden inside laptop battery compartments in a way that allows a computer still to be turned on.
The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement: “Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in electronics.
“The US government continually reassesses existing intelligence and collects new intelligence. This allows us to constantly evaluate our aviation security processes and policies and make enhancements when they are deemed necessary to keep passengers safe.”
Manny Gomez, a former FBI special agent, cited by the Telegraph said: “We had the shoe bomber, cartridge attempt, now this is the next level. We need to be several steps ahead of them.”
For now there have been no effected cyber-terrorist attacks, although few things can redirect public attention and send the world to scramble demanding the “safety of the government” quite like a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant. We can only hope that despite the overt warnings, such an escalation will not take place.
If any of our nuke plants are affected by an earthquake, etc. all bets are off. Just more fukushimas.
Repeal the 1965 Immigration Act.
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Has anyone seen the 60 minute series were they hired some hackers to hack one of the companies(60 minutes) cell phone? They also showed how they could create a ghost website inside hotels, using the hotels website……
@ B from CA, I agree!! Repeal it……
Not a chance!
Published on Mar 11, 2017 Your Radiation This Week
THE RAD IN AMERICA – YRTW ELE NO 7 AND 8 – MAPPED “Facing a Dying Nation” ” … In a short time a dose of 1 Sv causes acute radiation sickness, and a dose of 10 Sv is fatal.”
TOTAL GAMMA RADIATION In Your Radiation This Week No 7 and 8
Good Day! This is “Your Radiation This Week ” for the past 2 weeks. These are the recorded Total Gamma Radiation and Sievert highs that affected people around the United States.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/03/11/total-gamma-radiation-in-your-radiation-this-week-no-7-and-8/
sigh
it appears we are doomed 🙁
If you live within 200 Miles of any Nuke Plant, especially down wind from this location you are good as dead. Go to this website to monitor the radiation emissions from all Nuke sites in the US and world. See where the Nuke sites are closest to where you live, and pay attention.
http://www.RadiationNetwork.com put this website link on your phone along with the weather and wind speed and direction to know which way to evacuate if a nuke emission happens. Go sideways or upwind from this disaster that will happen. This live site updates the radiation emissions every 60 seconds. Be in the know and survive. Also stock up on Potassium Iodide. they also make this for pets. To help protect your Thyroid Gland.
Take up to 400mg of Selenium with the iodine potassium.
__ most people are deficient in iodine. Iodine deficiency is a serious health issue. Read: “Iodine, You Can’t Live Without It”. Written by: Dr. Steven Brownstein.
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Hard targets? How hard are those targets? Why not soft targets?
I’m a fossil power plant guy having spent my entire adult working life operating and later supervising two separate facilities one of 60MW built in 1990/91. We went through the Y2K scrutinization and came away with the knowledge that all protective interlocks were hard wired and absolutely immune to DCS (Distributive Control System) influence/input. Is it theoretically possible that a facility can be nefariously shut down through their control system? Certainly it can be if its successfully entered directly by human action or breeched from the outside. Will the facility destroy itself? I assume that a nuke plant also has hard wired interlocks that are not connected to the DCS system therefore the answer is no. I’ll bet my life savings that redundancy is required and maintained in their protective interlock systems.
B from CA
“Repeal the 1965 Immigration Act.”
I’m in full agreement.
If you have thyroid problems, potassium iodide could kill your ass.
Anonymous
Over or under active?
I’m underactive. Used to have some PI’s. Threw them out because somewhere on the
label was a warning for those with thyroid probs. Something about adverse reactions.
They were getting ready to expire anyways. More wasted money on my part.
Under too. Used to live within the danger zone of Salem NJ on the Delmarva and was issued them, trapped there anyway. Figured out go north into Pa as south and west you need a bridge to get you far enough away. Guaranteed a choke point.
This is where there is a need to balance the demands of security vs. freedom. It IS an ongoing debate, and should remain so. However, one of the reasons for govt, as enumerated by the Founders, IS for defense. So, while we don’t want a police state, neither do we want ourselves open to attacks like this above. I am for Constitutional limited government, not no govt, nor Brobdignagian gov’t. A difficult balance, to be sure. Imagine if YOU were a leader? How would YOU balance these two demands? Definitely a hard issue to resolve.
TEST
I question the legitimacy of the threat. The fallacy is the exclusive focus on nuclear power plants. I see show security.
“vulnerabilities”
The East Bloc was using now-collectible abacuses and mechanical clocks, to avoid the effects of EMP.
Some of us Westerners were still using magnetic tape in the late 90’s-early 2000’s, in an official capacity. We’ve seen 10inch, floppy disks, and you have somehow managed to get on the internet…
TEST said, “This is where there is a need to balance the demands of security vs. freedom. It IS an ongoing debate…”
Really? Who IS debating that. I think, it happens in intellectual circles. Why should we assume that blunt and pragmatic people, in an economy of resources, should share our philosophical concerns.
I see boffins, and that Walrus figure, from Alice in Wonderland, who pillages the oyster bed. Cognitive liberty is foremost, on their mind.
@Test
I am for freedom! Particularly as of late none of the DC Boobs has any ones security in mind. The ONLY security they are about is their own POWER and MONEY.
Stopping at a traffic light that my taxes paid for does not preclude that I to be searched.
My banking records and where I spend my money is my business. As long as taxes are paid why is it there business?
The borders are still wide open with increased numbers in potentially hostile refugee imports.
This is the type of security they provide!
As for the Nuke Plants heck; increased chances of death may result from a brain bleed due to continuous excessive stupidity being spouted off by the left. Or the stupid GOP NICE GUYS taking it! Notice that these are the same folks who want to provide security by taking away freedoms.
DC is More of a threat than a NUKE! Freedoms are being taken, daily!
I read somewhere . That nuke plants are only designed to last 20 years. After that the containment area no matter how well shielded becomes too radioactive for the workers to go near. So the plan was to remove the fuel . Seal the plant up. And wait 100 years for the technology to cut up and dispose of it. They are now pushing these plants to 35 years? The workers probably must be rotated to other company jobs after a very short stay? And the stays will probably get shorter and shorter as the radiation levels rise. Until you can only work there one hour and never again? How much damage did Obama do to our coal plants ? How many did he and the EPA have torn down? If you live in cold country . Go to a coal mine get your truck filled up and dump it in your back yard. Or rent a truck borrow a truck pay someone to deliver it.Call the coal mine they might have free delivery. Coal lasts forever and is better then fire wood in a survival SHTF situation?
I’m a fossil guy but I know a little as trade journals like Power Magazine and Power Engineering have articles across the board. Its not radioactivity but metal fatigue caused by the constant neutron bombardment that determines the life of a nuclear reactor.
With very little trouble I found this.
http://166.251.126.245/start.html
Yes it has a username and password and no I didn’t try to access, bypass or hack it, so I don’t know if it has default credentials or not. The fact that it isn’t SSL is a bad deal in itself. Maybe it pops to SSL after you hit login, but that’s a BAD practice. I have 200 more like this in the US. 3400 worldwide. You can’t fix stupid.
BTW I do this kind of thing for a living.