I saw the 60 Minutes program on Sunday and I was a little skeptical over the intelligence claims. As an engineer who worked closely with process control engineers at a chemical plant there are some significant challenges in sabotaging control systems when you have local access. Sabotaging a control system via the internet is an even greater challenge. I think that sooty insulators is a more likely answer although I agree every one should be wary.

The CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes breaks the remarkable news that a massive 2007 electrical blackout in Brazil was caused by computer hackers. But the electric utility involved denies a hack attack. It should know — it was fined over $3 million for failing to maintain the high-voltage insulators that actually caused the blackout.

Brazilian Blackout Traced to Sooty Insulators, Not Hackers
Marcelo Soares
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:15:00 GMT