Why Fry?

A rush by the Energy Department to use stimulus money to modernize the country’s power grid has left the system vulnerable to cyberattacks, the agency’s internal watchdog found.

Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman found “shortcomings” in the cybersecurity plans of more than a third of the utility companies that got federal funding for “smart grid” projects — from incomplete strategies to prevent an attack to vague steps for stopping one if it started.

Of 99 grants awarded to utilities — ranging from $400,000 to $200 million — 36 recipients did not take all the required security steps to ward off a cyberattack, auditors found. Even though Energy Department officials told the utilities to update their plans, many did not.

“I am 100 percent sure the skin rashes are due to radiation from Rachel (wireless communications equipment) and I strongly suspect that it caused the tumor as well.”

The fact that the radio system is mainly used in vehicles is what worries Roger Carlstrom.

“The waves bounce off the roof and back at the user with an effect that is perhaps ten times more powerful than a GSM phone,” says Roger Carlstrom.

“I think that the radio system that works with pulsed microwaves should be banned until it is considered how dangerous they might be.”

For a long-range cost-effective environmentally safe solution, we should push for metering over (via) landlines. Most structures already have copper landlines going into them, so a vast national infrastructure already exists. Plus, AT&T is petitioning the FCC to allow them to abandon their entire landline network anyway.

Connecticut Attorney General: “The pilot results showed no beneficial impact on total energy usage,” Jepsen said. “And, the savings that were seen in the pilot were limited to certain types of customers and would be far outweighed by the cost of installing the new meter systems,” he said.

Verizon Wireless, the largest cellular carrier in the U.S., is already monitoring cell phones and selling the information. In October, Verizon enrolled its entire customer base into its program to track customer usage and location, as well as browsing data, demographic info, and app usage.

SpyFiles: Wikileaks claims $5B industry spying on mobile, webmail, GPS users, delivers interactive map showing surveillance by country.

An Android app developer has published what he says is conclusive proof that millions of smartphones are secretly monitoring the key presses, geographic locations, and received messages of its users.

From January 2011 Consumer Reports, “With landline phones, operators were significantly more likely to find callers by determining the location of the phone. More than one-third of landline users were located in that manner compared with only 7 percent of cell callers. Landline phones give the operator your home address, including an apartment number if it appears on your phone bill. With cellular phones, operators see only geographic coordinates.”

Late last week, the Federal Aviation Administration alerted pilots that “the GPS signal may be unreliable or unavailable” within a nearly 300-mile radius of Boulder City, where the test transmitter will be located, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time daily from Monday to May 27.

Nellis Air Force Base has plans for two military exercises during the period in which the testing is to take place involving air support units that rely on the use of GPS technology.

“Anything that affects operations is of concern,” said Nellis spokesman Charles Ramey. “We rely heavily on GPS to accomplish our mission.”

“Flight attendants tell you to turn off your cellphones and your Kindles and whatever else because it may interfere the plane’s electronics … and yet I got this notice from FAA that somebody is going to do exactly the same thing, which is interfere with the navigation of the airplane,” said John Gadzinski, an airline captain and aviation safety consultant.

The device – dubbed MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio) – exploits the microwave audio effect, in which short microwave pulses rapidly heat tissue, causing a shockwave inside the skull that can be detected by the ears. A series of pulses can be transmitted to produce recognisable sounds.

The device is aimed for military or crowd-control applications, but may have other uses.

“But is it going to be possible at the power levels necessary?” he asks. Previous microwave audio tests involved very “quiet” sounds that were hard to hear, a high-power system would mean much more powerful – and potentially hazardous – shock waves.

“I would worry about what other health effects it is having,” says Lin. “You might see neural damage.”

Sierra Nevada says that a demonstration version could be built in a year, with a transportable system following within 18 months. They are currently seeking funding for the work from the US Department of Defence.

A leading computer scientist has warned of the security risks of using smart meters in controlling utility supplies.

A programme is underway to replace Britain$#8217;s 47 million meters with smart meters that can be turned off remotely. Utilities welcome the move because it will greatly simplify the process of collecting meter reading and controlling supply at times of high demand. As an added bonus the technology also makes it easier to switch subscribers to new (higher) tariffs if they persistently fail to pay their bill on time.