CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0095, 04/11/2009

Title/Description: Electric Grid at Risk and other tech news headlines

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 96, recorded April 14th, 2009. This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information. This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.cengage.com/coursetechnology for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

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And now, the news.

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Story 1 - Electric Grid at Risk

US national security officials have reported that foreign cyberspies have penetrated the systems that control the U.S. electric grid putting the entire US infrastructure at risk. Software was discovered on the servers that control the flow of US electricity which could be launched remotely to bring down the countries electric grid. Taking down the countries electric grid could have a devastating impact especially during times of conflict or war.

Meanwhile, vandals in California took bolt-cutters to a primary fiber optic cable disrupting power and the Internet access to Silicon Valley for several hours. The vandals gained access to the cable through a manhole below a roadway. AT&T is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

These incidents combine to highlight vulnerabilities in the country's electric grid and critical infrastructures both at the local level and at the national level. They come at a time when the Fed is working to beef up cybersecruity. Evaluating the safety of the nation’s electric grid and other critical infrastructures is a key component of the administration's cybersecurity review due to be completed this week.

The Pentagon is well aware of the countries vulnerabilities in these areas. Military leaders recently stated that in the past six months, the Pentagon has spent over $100 million cleaning up after Internet attacks and network issues. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of U.S. Strategic Command told reporters that the US is under assault by hackers ranging from bored teenagers to sophisticated nation-states. Military leaders are working to invest in safeguards against cyberattacks, rather than cleanup after cyberattacks. Legislation has been introduced that would create a new national cybersecurity czar whose job it would be to oversee the defense of national critical infrastructure.

Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies [Wall Street Journal]

Cyberspies penetrate electrical grid: report [Reuters]

Electric Grid Hack Shows Need for Real Security [NewsFactor]

Power grid hackers probably got inside by attacking PCs, says researcher [Computerworld]

China denies playing a role in 'GhostNet' cyberspy ring [Computerworld]

China denies cyberattacks on U.S. power grid [Computerworld]

Pentagon spends over $100 million on cyberattack cleanup [c|net]

Vandals blamed for phone and Internet outage [c|net]

Senators introduce bill to federalize cybersecurity [Ars Technica]

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And that brings us to News Briefs:

• The Associated Press, the primary news wire service in the US, has announced that it will reduce its rates to newspapers in an effort to help fledging papers stay afloat in a challenging economy. The wire service giant says that it will need to lay off a portion of its work force in order to reduce its rates. The AP also promised to go after online news services that make use of its articles without legal permission.
  AP cuts newspaper rates, moves to protect web news [Reuters]
• A controversial Internet piracy law was defeated in France this week. This three strikes law would have forces Internet Service Providers to cut off individuals accused of illegal file sharing three times. The fact that the law was defeated was a surprise to most who have been following the story, and is due only to the poor attendance from the ruling party in the parliament at the time of the vote.
  French Internet piracy law defeated in parliament [Reuters]
• Google and the global recording industry have decided to take an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach to music distribution in China. Ninety-nine percent of music downloaded in China is done so illegally. Google has introduced a new free music download service that allows Chinese to download music legally for free. Google and the recording companies will split revenues made through advertisements on the site. So if you're looking for free and legal music downloads, consider moving to China!
  Google and Music Labels Bet on Downloads in China [NYTimes]
• CVS Pharmacy, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the US, has joined Walgreens, Medco, and others in partnering with Google Health to store patient prescriptions. CVS customers can import their medical records from their CVS pharmacy for easy access over the Internet.
  Do You Want Google To Have Access to Your Prescription Records? [Mashable]
  Google Health expands deal with CVS [c|net]
• Micro-blogging site Twitter has exploded in popularity, doubling its users worldwide and in the US over the past few months. ComScore has interesting statistics on Twitter growth including that the service is most popular with 25-34 year olds and 45-54 year olds.
  Twitter Traffic Explodes...And Not Being Driven by the Usual Suspects! [comScore]
• Conficker, the malware controlling millions of PCs around the world, has recently been upgraded over P2P networks and appears to be evolving in new directions. Computers infected with the malware have had additional files installed that allow those that control the malware to easily use the infected PCs to distribute spam. Current versions of Conficker are programmed to stop working in early May, which has security experts wondering what to expect from Conficker next.
  Conficker self-updates, launches false infection alert [ARS Technica]
  Conficker cashes in, installs spam bots and scareware [Computerworld]
• Google has tweaked its search algorithm once again - this time to favor local search results. By calculating the user's current location based on Internet connection and IP address, the Google algorithm now considers your location when listing results for searches. So if you were to search for an "Italian restaurant" those nearest you would appear at the top of the list.
  Google adding local results for all searches [Computerworld]
• The Apple iTunes store has implemented variable pricing on music, with many popular songs now going for $1.29. While iTunes' price hike garnered most of the media attention, some observant journalists picked up on the fact the Amazon's music store also saw an increase in price to $1.29 for top hits.
  Amazon follows Apple to $1.29 [c|net]
• Facebook's has hit the 200 million user mark. With one and a half billion people on the Internet worldwide, one in every eight is a Facebook user.
  Facebook hits 200 million members, thinks charity [c|net]

That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at coursecasts.course.com. Email us with your suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!