This page is a test posting of a timeline of Electrical Events I'm working on.  Format is awful - working on improving it.  Page extends far to the right ---------->

 

Year Date Outage Attack Solar EMP Cyber Physical Hardware Damage Deaths? ReportPlan Study Policy Political Press Media Event Source Doc # Need better source Source Link Researcher
2014 7-Feb-2014 x Article - Hawaii moves to shore up Oahu's electrical grid   123 Audrey McAvoy "Hawaii moves to shore up Oahu's electrical grid", BloombergBusinessweek, February 7, 2014, accessed February 8, 2014, http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/408087?type=ap http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/408087?type=ap Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 7-Feb-2014 x 4 US Senators send letter to FERC regarding CA Power Facility attack.  Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Harry Reid of Nevada, Dianne Feinstein of California and Al Franken of Minnesota. They are asking if requiring power companies to comply with what are now voluntary security standards would improve grid safety 119 "Latest News
Power Grid Review Sought After San Jose PG&E Substation Attack Called Terrorism", SanFrancisco.CBS.Local, February 7, 2014, accessed February 8, 2014, http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/02/07/review-of-power-grid-sought-after-san-jose-attack-called-terrorism/		 http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/02/07/review-of-power-grid-sought-after-san-jose-attack-called-terrorism/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 7-Feb-2014 x Energy Department announced $7M to improve Resiliency of the Electric Grid 121 "Energy Department Announces Funding to Improve the Resiliency of the Electric Grid", February 7, 2014, accessed February 8, 2014, http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/science/science-a-environmental/49965-energy-department-announces-funding-to-improve-the-resiliency-of-the-electric-grid.html http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/science/science-a-environmental/49965-energy-department-announces-funding-to-improve-the-resiliency-of-the-electric-grid.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 6-Feb-2014 x Article - U.S. Moves to Protect Electric Grid
Congressional Leaders Seek Federal Standards After Report on Attack.  Wall Street Journal.  		 122 Rebecca Smith, "U.S. Moves to Protect Electric Grid
Congressional Leaders Seek Federal Standards After Report on Attack", The Wall Street Journal,  February 6, 2014, accessed February 8, 2014,http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304450904579367313278701766-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwNzEwNDcyWj		 http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304450904579367313278701766-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwNzEwNDcyWj Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 6-Feb-2014 x Article - Threat to the grid? Details emerge of sniper attack on power station.  Refers to 6 April 2013 CA substation physical attack. References original WSJ article that is behind paywall. 113 Joseph Weber, "Threat to the grid? Details emerge of sniper attack on power station", FoxNews.com, February 6, 2014, accessed February 6, 2014, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/06/2013-sniper-attack-on-power-grid-still-concern-in-washington-and-for-utilities/
(WSJ Video) Wall Street Journal Live, February 5, 2014, accessed February 6, 2014, 3:15, http://live.wsj.com/video/mystery-assault-on-power-grid-raises-alarms/9AFCC446-5B2E-4749-A8AC-6E4B0A8A7301.html#!9AFCC446-5B2E-4749-A8AC-6E4B0A8A7301		 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/06/2013-sniper-attack-on-power-grid-still-concern-in-washington-and-for-utilities/
(WSJ video) http://live.wsj.com/video/mystery-assault-on-power-grid-raises-alarms/9AFCC446-5B2E-4749-A8AC-6E4B0A8A7301.html#!9AFCC446-5B2E-4749-A8AC-6E4B0A8A7301		 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 5-Feb-2014 x Article - Hacks on Gas (and the Grid): Cybersecurity, Energy and National Defense 116 Chris Bonk, "Hacks on Gas (and the Grid): Cybersecurity, Energy and National Defense", February 5, 2014, accessed February 8, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/thebakersinstitute/2014/02/05/hacks-on-gas-and-the-grid-cybersecurity-energy-and-national-defense/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/thebakersinstitute/2014/02/05/hacks-on-gas-and-the-grid-cybersecurity-energy-and-national-defense/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 5-Feb-2014 x Amendment adopted by House Committee on Homeland Security.  Author: Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ) to HR 3696 National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act and approved by voice vote, the amendment directs the National Research Council to conduct a study on the resiliency and reliability of the nation’s power grid and related issues. The committee is chaired by Michael T. McCaul (R-TX). 120 "NEMA-Backed Smart Grid Study Passes House Committee", National Electrical Manufacturers Association, February 5, 2014, accessed February 8, 2014, http://www.nema.org/News/Pages/NEMA-Backed-Smart-Grid-Study-Passes-House-Committee.aspx http://www.nema.org/News/Pages/NEMA-Backed-Smart-Grid-Study-Passes-House-Committee.aspx Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 5-Feb-2014 x Report - Hacks on Gas: Energy, Cybersecurity, and U.S. Defense 114 Christopher Bronk, "", James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy Rice University, February 5, 2014, accessed February 6, 2014, http://bakerinstitute.org/files/6195/download/ http://bakerinstitute.org/files/6195/download/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 4-Feb-2014 X X Report - The Federal Government’s Track Record on Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure 112 "The Federal Government’s Track Record on Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure", Minority Staff of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Sen. Tom Coburn, MD, Ranking Member, February 4, 2014, accessed February 4, 2014, http://hsgac.senate.gov/download/the-federal-governments-track-record-on-cybersecurity-and-critical-infrastructure http://hsgac.senate.gov/download/the-federal-governments-track-record-on-cybersecurity-and-critical-infrastructure Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 4-Feb-2014 x Article - Spare transformers to restore the grid after disaster still await a green light 117 Peter Behr, "Spare transformers to restore the grid after disaster still await a green light", February 4, 2014, accessed February 6, 2014, http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059993969 http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059993969 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 3-Feb-2014 x article - Applying lessons from one of the biggest blackouts in history.  Discusses smartgrid tech 111 John Toon, "Applying lessons from one of the biggest blackouts in history", Phys.Org, February 3, 2014, accessed February 4, 2014, http://phys.org/news/2014-02-lessons-biggest-blackouts-history.html http://phys.org/news/2014-02-lessons-biggest-blackouts-history.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 30-Jan-2014 x Norman Bay nominated for FERC chief 110 Justin Sink, "Obaa taps Bay for FERC chief", The Hill, January 30, 2014, accessed January 31, 2014, http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/197050-obama-taps-bay-for-ferc-chief http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/197050-obama-taps-bay-for-ferc-chief Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 29-Jan-2014 x Report - Plotting a More Confident Course: Rethinking Oversight of the Electric Sector and Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity 90 Steven Bucci and Andy Bochman, "Plotting a More Confident Course: Rethinking Oversight of the Electric Sector and Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity", The Heritage Foundation, January 29, 2014, accessed January 30, 2014, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/01/plotting-a-more-confident-course-rethinking-oversight-of-the-electric-sector-and-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/01/plotting-a-more-confident-course-rethinking-oversight-of-the-electric-sector-and-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 28-Jan-2014 x Article - Forget Hackers: Squirrels are a bigger threat to America's power grid 107 Eugene Chow, "Forget Hackers: Squirrels are a bigger threat to America's power grid", TheWeek.Com, January 28, 2014, accessed January 29, 2014, http://theweek.com/article/index/255510/forget-hackers-squirrels-are-a-bigger-threat-to-americas-power-grid http://theweek.com/article/index/255510/forget-hackers-squirrels-are-a-bigger-threat-to-americas-power-grid Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 27-Jan-2014 x Study - Blackouts: a sociology of electrical power failure 83 Steve Matthewman and Hugh Byrd, "Blackouts: a sociology of electrical power failure", Social Space Scientific Journal, January 2014, accessed January 29, 2014, http://socialspacejournal.eu/Sz%C3%B3sty%20numer/Steve%20Matthewman%20Hugh%20Byrd%20-%20Blackouts%20a%20sociology%20of%20electrical%20power%20failure.pdf http://socialspacejournal.eu/Sz%C3%B3sty%20numer/Steve%20Matthewman%20Hugh%20Byrd%20-%20Blackouts%20a%20sociology%20of%20electrical%20power%20failure.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 27-Jan-2014 x Article - Study Predicts More Frequent And Severe Blackouts In The Coming Years 82 Brett Smith, "Study Predicts More Frequent And Severe Blackouts In The Coming Years", January 27, 2014, acessed January 29, 2014, http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113055514/blackouts-expected-to-get-worse-in-coming-years-012714/ http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113055514/blackouts-expected-to-get-worse-in-coming-years-012714/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 26-Jan-2014 x Article - Microgrids could quadruple by 2020.  Key: off grid, mix diesel/renewable.  Option for risk mitigation 62 Barbara Vergetis Lundin, "Microgrids could quadruple by 2020", FierceEnergy, January 26, 2014, accessed January 26, 2014, http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/microgrids-could-quadruple-2020/2014-01-26 http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/microgrids-could-quadruple-2020/2014-01-26 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 25-Jan-2014 x TV Clip - Judge Jeanine Pirro FOX News investigates US Power Grid.  10 min clip discussing EMP, cyber attacks and the effects of downed power grid. Emphasis on could be prevented but "legislation blocked; fights about money".  Pushes CM Fred Upton (MI) Chair House Energy Committee to free bill from his committee.  Interviews Rep Trent Franks (R-AZ) who states Russia had EMP weapon years ago, discusses DoD reliance on 99% of energy from civilian grid, pushes SHIELD Act (not passed yet) and CIPA Bill (at DHS committee), GRID Act (passed House unanimously, Senate stopped due to cyber security aspects). N/A Judge Jeanine Pirro, "Justice Investigates: U.S. Power Grid in Danger?", YouTube, January 25, 2014, accessed January 25, 2014, 9:51, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp8DWtp30LQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp8DWtp30LQ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 23-Jan-2014 x CIP Bill Passes Committee.  The National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013 would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to better protect the country against potentially destructive cyber attacks targeting national utilities and other critical infrastructure systems. The House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies has marked up and passed the bill back to the House Committee on Homeland Security. From here, H.R. 3696 will travel to the House floor for debate..then Senate. Supporters: American Civil Liberties Union, American Chemistry Council, Boeing Company, and National Defense Industrial Association.  Purpose: bill seeks to establish a threat-information-sharing partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the owners and operators of the nation’s critical infrastructure systems. It also establishes a framework through which the DHS can work with international partners to harden the security of systems outside the U.S. 29 Brian Donohue, "Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill Passed in Committee", ThreatPost.com, January 23, 2014, accessed January 25, 2014, http://threatpost.com/critical-infrastructure-protection-bill-passed-in-committee/103804 http://threatpost.com/critical-infrastructure-protection-bill-passed-in-committee/103804 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 16-Jan-2014 x Article - Indian microgrids aim to bring millions out of darkness 109 David Ferris, "Indian microgrids aim to bring millions out of darkness", Yale Environment 360, January 16, 2014, accessed january 31, 2014, http://e360.yale.edu/feature/indian_microgrids_aim_to_bring_millions_out_of_darkness/2729/ http://e360.yale.edu/feature/indian_microgrids_aim_to_bring_millions_out_of_darkness/2729/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2014 1-Jan-2014 x Report - Using Game Theory to Protect the Smart Grid.  Attackers can cause cascading power failure by attacking just a small number of substations. (13)  Potentially overcomes traditional US Grid defense where non-homogenous control systems ensure a wide-spread attack is hard.  West Point study shows game theory indicates attackers can overcome with a few key attacks on substations. (30) 13, 30 Major Paulo Shakarian, "Using Game Theory to Protect the Smart Grid", West Point Network Science Center Special Points of Interest V1 Issue 1, January 2014, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.westpoint.edu/nsc/SiteAssets/SitePages/News/Newsblastvol4iss1.pdf (30) Paul Rosenzweig, "How Likely is a Successful Attack on the Electric Grid", Lawfare, January 24, 2014, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.lawfareblog.com/2014/01/how-likely-is-a-successful-attack-on-the-electric-grid/#.UuP_GGQo7y8 http://www.westpoint.edu/nsc/SiteAssets/SitePages/News/Newsblastvol4iss1.pdf  
(30) http://www.lawfareblog.com/2014/01/how-likely-is-a-successful-attack-on-the-electric-grid/#.UuP_GGQo7y8		 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 19-Nov-2013 x Conference - New Realities: Energy Security in the 2010s and Implications for the U.S. Military.  Nov 19-20 2013, organized by the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, and hosted by the Defense Education Forum, Reserve Officers Association (ROA) at the ROA’s Minuteman Memorial Building on Capitol Hill. Participants included representatives from the U.S. military, government, private industry, Congress, and academia principally from the United States, with a number from European nations. 115 Dr. Robert Bunker and Lt Col John Colwell, "New Realities: Energy Security in the 2010s and Implications for the U.S. Military", December 20, 2013, accessed February 6, 2014, http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/index.cfm/articles/New-Realities-Energy-Security-in-the-2010s-and-Implications-for-the-US-Military/2013/12/30 http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/index.cfm/articles/New-Realities-Energy-Security-in-the-2010s-and-Implications-for-the-US-Military/2013/12/30 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 14-Nov-2013 x GridEx II (Grid Security Exercise)  Tabletop exercise involving 200 electricity utilities and government agencies, managed by North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).  Nov 13-14 2013.  Over 2,000 participants to respond to simulated cyber and physical security attacks on the bulk-power system by assessing the situation, mitigating the impact, and restoring power. 3 distinct timeframes: 1. One Hour After - Initial Situation and Immediate Response; hundreds of electricity generation and transmission facilities affected, up to 34 million people without power. 2. Two Days After - Increasing Response. 3. One Month After - Longer-Term Challenges; many electricity generation and transmission facilities restored, but 7 million people still without power, some for months.  Quote: "Drill participants said they would not talk about the specific locations of the simulated attacks, for two reasons: The locations were chosen at points that the insiders knew were vulnerable, and the companies involved were promised that if they participated, their performance would not be held up to public criticism....'There were certainly surprises for us,' said Venita McCellon-Allen, the president and chief operating officer. “I sat up straight in my chair....It was more severe than anything we’ve drilled,'" (28) 27a, 27 (post), 28 (27a) "GridEx", North American Electric Reliability Corporation, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.nerc.com/pa/CI/CIPOutreach/Pages/GridEX.aspx (27b) "Grid Security Exercise (GridEx) II Executive Tabletop Summary", North American Electric Reliability Corporation, (hard copy only); (28) Matthew L. Wald, "Attack Ravages Power Grid (Just a Test)", The New York Times, November 14, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/us/coast-to-coast-simulating-onslaught-against-power-grid.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&smid=tw-nytimes&adxnnlx=1384501226-AiLoSrpp3l0LspF4Ovg/hw http://www.nerc.com/pa/CI/CIPOutreach/Pages/GridEX.aspx Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 6-Oct-2013 x x x Arkansas Blackout after physical attack (3/3).  10,000 affected.  3rd attack in recent weeks (Aug and Sep).  Two power poles had been intentionally cutin Lonoke County in this attack. 104 William Pentland, "Weekend attacks on arkansas' electric grid leave 10,000 without power; 'YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED US', FORBES, October 7, 2013, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/10/07/weekend-attacks-on-arkansas-electric-grid-leave-10000-without-power-you-should-have-expected-u-s/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/10/07/weekend-attacks-on-arkansas-electric-grid-leave-10000-without-power-you-should-have-expected-u-s/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Oct-2013 x US TV Movie - American Blackout.  Dramatizes the first several days after a blackout hits an entire region through vignettes of individuals and families x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 29-Sep-2013 x x Arkansas Grid physical attack (2/3).  No blackout  2nd of 3 attacks.  Fire reported at Keo substation; intentionally set.  Message inscribed: 'YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED US'. 104 William Pentland, "Weekend attacks on arkansas' electric grid leave 10,000 without power; 'YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED US', FORBES, October 7, 2013, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/10/07/weekend-attacks-on-arkansas-electric-grid-leave-10000-without-power-you-should-have-expected-u-s/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/10/07/weekend-attacks-on-arkansas-electric-grid-leave-10000-without-power-you-should-have-expected-u-s/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 25-Sep-2013 x TV Show - Revolution.  Debut Second Season.  Dramatizes events 15 years after the start of a worldwide blackout. 11 "Revolution (TV Series", Wikipedia, accessed January 24, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_(TV_series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_(TV_series) Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 18-Sep-2013 x Conference - TTC Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection.   55 "Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection Speaker Agenda", TTC, July 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.cybersecurityinfrastructure.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CSIP_fl13v1_Agenda.pdf http://www.cybersecurityinfrastructure.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CSIP_fl13v1_Agenda.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 11-Sep-2013 x Article - Why cyberattacks could knock out the U.S. grid for 9-18 months 78 Davide Savenije, "Why cyberattacks could knock out the U.S. grid for 9-18 months", Utility Drive.com, September 11, 2013, accessed January 29, 2014,http://www.utilitydive.com/news/why-cyberattacks-could-knock-out-the-us-power-grid-for-9-18-months/170480/ http://www.utilitydive.com/news/why-cyberattacks-could-knock-out-the-us-power-grid-for-9-18-months/170480/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 6-Sep-2013 x Article - Could a cyberattack take out the U.S. power grid today? (Utility Drive.com) 77 Davide Savenije, "Could a cyberattack take out the U.S. power grid today?", Utility Drive.com, September 6, 2013, accessed January 29, 2014, http://www.utilitydive.com/news/could-a-cyberattack-take-out-the-us-power-grid-today/168744/ http://www.utilitydive.com/news/could-a-cyberattack-take-out-the-us-power-grid-today/168744/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 4-Sep-2013 x x x 2013 Venezuela Blackout.  A power cut left 70% of Venezuela without power (including capital Caracas).  President blamed sabotage by opposition (an "Electrical Strike" and "part of a low-level war", instructed military to "protect the whole country").  3 hours, slow restoration after that.   3 "Power Cut Leaves Most of Venezuela Without Electricity", BBC News, September 4, 2013,  accessed 17 October, 2013,http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23954514 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23954514 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Sep-2013 x UK TV Movie - Blackout.  Dramatizes the first several days after a blackout hits an entire region through vignettes of individuals and families x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 28-Aug-2013 x 2013 Brazil Blackout.  Tens of millions affected.  No stock price effect, prices held steady $16-17 range in the weeks before and after. N/A x Research by Karl Pabst, Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University, provided by email on  23 January 2014 N/A Karl Pabst (karl.pabst.vol@gc.ndu.edu)
2013 21-Aug-2013 x x Arkansas Grid physical attack (1/3).  No blackout  1st of 3 attacks.  A cable attached to framework of a 100-foot electric transmission tower with other end across railroad - apparent attempt to use moving train to pull down tower. Closed highway for the day. 104 William Pentland, "Weekend attacks on arkansas' electric grid leave 10,000 without power; 'YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED US', FORBES, October 7, 2013, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/10/07/weekend-attacks-on-arkansas-electric-grid-leave-10000-without-power-you-should-have-expected-u-s/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/10/07/weekend-attacks-on-arkansas-electric-grid-leave-10000-without-power-you-should-have-expected-u-s/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Aug-2013 x x U.S. and Israeli physicists concluded that for something dependent upon a number of critical nodes, as the U.S. electrical grid, cascading failures are pretty much inevitable. 5 Patrick Kiger, "Grid Failure", National Geographic, 25 September, 2013, accessed 17 October, 2013, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/american-blackout/articles/grid-failure/.  http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/american-blackout/articles/grid-failure/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 29-Jul-2013 x Panel - EMP Threat to US Electrical Grid led by Fmr. CIA Director James Woolsey. Other participants: Ambassador Henry Cooper and Dr. Peter Vincet Pry N/A "EMP Threat to US Electrical Grid led by Fmr. CIA Director James Woolsey", YouTube, 1:14:38, July 29, 2013, accessed January 30, 2014, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iBfALe8X9C8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iBfALe8X9C8 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 15-Jul-2013 x Carrington Class Coronal Mass ejection (near miss) x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Jul-2013 x Report - The Economic Impact of Cybercrime and Cyber Espionage.  Cybercrime and espionage up to $400Billion out of estimated $70 Trillion global GDP in 2011. 45 "The Economic Impact of Cybercrime and Cyber Espionage", Center for Strategic and International Studies and McAfee an Intel Company, July 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/reports/rp-economic-impact-cybercrime.pdf http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/reports/rp-economic-impact-cybercrime.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Jul-2013 x Novel - Gridlock. Written by former US Senator Dorgan, includes rolling blackouts that hit major cities as attackers attempt to bring down the entire grid. 38 Matthew Wald, "Imagining a Cyberattack on the Power Grid", The New York Times, September 10, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/us/imagining-a-cyberattack-on-the-power-grid.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/us/imagining-a-cyberattack-on-the-power-grid.html?_r=0 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 22-May-2013 x Article - Power company targeted by 10,000 cyberattacks per month. Discusses Markey/Waxman congressional report of 21 may 2013. 79 Jon Brodkin, "Power company targeted by 10,000 cyberattacks per month", arstechnica.com, May 22, 2013, accessed January 29, 2014, http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/05/power-company-targeted-by-10000-cyber-attacks-per-month/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/05/power-company-targeted-by-10000-cyber-attacks-per-month/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 21-May-2013 x x Report - Electric Grid Vulnerability. Results of January 2013 information request to 150 investor-owned utilities (IOUs), municipally-owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives and federal entities that own major pieces of the bulk power system.   60% response. Focuses on cyber and geomagnetic threats. Key findings:  1. The electric grid is the target of numerous and daily cyber-attacks. 2. Most utilities only comply with mandatory cyber-security standards, and have not implemented voluntary NERC recommendations. 3. Most utilities have not taken concrete steps to reduce the vulnerability of the grid to geomagnetic storms and it is unclear whether the number of available spare transformers is adequate 22 Congressman Edward J. Markey and Congressman Henry A. Waxman, "Electric Grid Vulnerability: Industry Responses Reveal Security Gaps", United States House of Representatives, May 21, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report-Electric-Grid-Vulnerability-2013-5-21.pdf  http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report-Electric-Grid-Vulnerability-2013-5-21.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 20-May-2013 x x Conference - Fourth Annual World Summit on Infrastructure Security.  Rep Trent Franks (R-Ariz) and Rep Yvette Clark (D-NY) organizing cochairs; also both leading EMP Caucus members.  May 20-21. 57, 4 x (57)"Agenda for the Electric Infrastructure Security Summit", The Fourth Annual World Summit on Infrastructure Security, May 20-21, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.eissummit.com/images/upload/conf/media/EIS%20Summit%20IV%20Plenary%20Agenda%20Final.pdf
(4)Billy House, "Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus Battles Skeptics in Push to Protect the Planet", National Journal, March 10, 2013,  accessed 17 October, 2013, http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310		 (57)http://www.eissummit.com/images/upload/conf/media/EIS%20Summit%20IV%20Plenary%20Agenda%20Final.pdf
(4)http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310		 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 16-May-2013 x Congressional Hearing.  Department of Homeland Security Testified that in 2012, "it has processed 68% more cyber-incidents involving Federal agencies, critical infrastructure, and other select industrial entities than in 2011" 22 x Congressman Edward J. Markey and Congressman Henry A. Waxman, "Electric Grid Vulnerability: Industry Responses Reveal Security Gaps", United States House of Representatives, May 21, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report-Electric-Grid-Vulnerability-2013-5-21.pdf  http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report-Electric-Grid-Vulnerability-2013-5-21.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 16-May-2013 x FERC Proposed Rule 779 on Geomagnetic Disturbances. 

52 "Reliability Standards for Geomagnetic Disturbances", Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Proposed Rule 779, May 16, 2013, accessed January 26, 2014, http://ferc.gov/whats-new/comm-meet/2013/051613/E-5.pdf http://ferc.gov/whats-new/comm-meet/2013/051613/E-5.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-May-2013 x x US National Inventory of Dams (NID) hacked.  From Jan-May 2013, Chinese government or military cyber warriors hacked the list of 8,100 US dams, including sensitive information on vulnerabilities and potential deaths upon failure. Concern raised hackers are preparing to conduct a future cyber attack against the national electrical power grid 18 Bill Gertz, "The Cyber-Dam Breaks", The Washington Free Beacon, May 1, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://freebeacon.com/the-cyber-dam-breaks/ http://freebeacon.com/the-cyber-dam-breaks/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 16-Apr-2013 x x x Fibers cut & shots fired at transformers.  Individual(s) cuf fiber and 911 services and landlines, then fired 100+ rounds into transformers, causing oil leaks, overheating and shutdown.  No power outages reported. Possible training run.  PG&E took 27 days to repair transformers, $16M+ damage.  As of Feb 2014 no suspects/arrests. 106 Shane Harris, "Military-style raid on california power station spooks U.S.", ForeignPolicy, December 27, 2013, accessed January 31, 2014, http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/24/power-station-military-assault http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/24/power-station-military-assault Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Apr-2013 x Article - Electrical Grid is called vulnerable to power shutdown   93 Nicole Perlroth, "Electrical Grid is called vulnerable to power shutdown", The New York Times Bits Blog, October 18, 2013, accessed January 30, 2014, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/electrical-grid-called-vulnerable-to-power-shutdown/?_r=0 http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/electrical-grid-called-vulnerable-to-power-shutdown/?_r=0 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Apr-2013 x x Successful multi-company DNP3 SCADA probes  2 engineers, Adam Crain and Chris Sistrunk discovered open DNP3 access while working other issues, succesfully entering multiple company control systems. They reported to  Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, eventually leading to several alerts.  Occurred one day after Boston Marathon Bombing.  93 Nicole Perlroth, "Electrical Grid is called vulnerable to power shutdown", The New York Times Bits Blog, October 18, 2013, accessed January 30, 2014, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/electrical-grid-called-vulnerable-to-power-shutdown/?_r=0 http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/electrical-grid-called-vulnerable-to-power-shutdown/?_r=0 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 19-Mar-2013 x Article - Press Release on ASCE 2013 Report 97 Doug Scott, "ASCE's new report cart bumps the nation's infrastructure grade up to a D+", ASCENews, March 2013, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.asce.org/ascenews/featured.aspx?id=23622324272&blogid=25769815007 http://www.asce.org/ascenews/featured.aspx?id=23622324272&blogid=25769815007 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 19-Mar-2013 x American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2013 Report Card for America's Infrastructure (D+ for Energy).  4 previous report cards - 2009, 2005, 2001, 1998.   96 "2013 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, Energy", ASCE, March 19, 2013, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/documents/Energy.pdf http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/documents/Energy.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 18-Feb-2013 x x Report - Mandiant Report exposing China APT1 Cyber Espionage Unit 84 "APT1 Exposing One of China's Cyber Espionage Unites", Mandiant, February 18, 2013, accessed January 29, 2014, http://intelreport.mandiant.com/Mandiant_APT1_Report.pdf http://intelreport.mandiant.com/Mandiant_APT1_Report.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Feb-2013 x Workshop follow-up to the release of the National Research Council report Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System. Workshop called: The Resilience of the Electric Power Delivery System in Response to Terrorism and Natural Disasters  8 National Research Council. The Resilience of the Electric Power Delivery System in Response to Terrorism and Natural Disasters: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, February 2013, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18535 http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18535 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2013 1-Jan-2013 x White House Executive Order.  Directed National Institute of Standards and Technology to work with industry to create a new cybersecurity framework for critical infrastructure, including the electrical sector.  Voluntary, "many concerned that these standards will eventually become mandatory." 37 x Steven Bucci, "A Better Way: Promoting Cybersecurity for the Electric Sector and Critical Infrastructure", The Heritage Foundation Issue Brief No. 4090, November 18, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2013/pdf/IB4090.pdf http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2013/pdf/IB4090.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 7-Dec-2012 x Conference - InfraGard National EMP SIG sessions at the Dupont Summit 2012 with Policy Studies Organization (PSO) support.  Held at Carnegie Institution for Science.  Covered high-impact threats to critical infrastructure with a special emphasis on geomagnetic disturbance (GMD), 51, 51b "High-impact Threats to Critical Infrastructure, Conference Proceedings: InfraGard National EMP SIG Sessions", Dupont Summit 2012, December 7, 2012, accessed January 26, 2014, http://www.ipsonet.org/proceedings/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Proceedings-22-reduced.pdf
51b You Tube Videos and Panel Descriptions, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.ipsonet.org/conferences/the-dupont-summit/dupont-summit-2012/infragard-emp-sig		 http://www.ipsonet.org/proceedings/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Proceedings-22-reduced.pdf   (51b) http://www.ipsonet.org/conferences/the-dupont-summit/dupont-summit-2012/infragard-emp-sig Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 1-Dec-2012 x x Virus Infection of Control System.  Unnamed power company contacted Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Reponse Team.  2 workstations critical to operation of control environment infected with sophisticated malware.  There were no backups. 86 "Malware Infections in the Control Environment", ICS-CERT Monitor, October/November/December 2012, accessed January 30 2014, https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/Monitors/ICS-CERT_Monitor_Oct-Dec2012.pdf https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/Monitors/ICS-CERT_Monitor_Oct-Dec2012.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 14-Nov-2012 x Report - "Terrorism and the Electrical Power Delivery System".  National Academy of Sciences Report (redacted)   Key Quote: "physical damage by terrorists to large transformers could disrupt power to large regions of the country and could take months to repair, and that 'such an attack could be carried out by knowledgeable attackers with little risk of detection or interdiction.'"   Originally done in 2007, reviewed by DHS and parts classified  6 National Research Council, Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2012, 2, accessed 30 November, 2013, http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12050#toc. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12050#toc Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 14-Nov-2012 x Article - Thousands seen dying if terrorists attack U.S. Power Grid 76 Brian Wingfield and Jeff Bliss, "Thousands seen dying if terrorists attack U.S. Power Grid", Bloomberg.com, November 14, 2012, accessed January 29, 2014, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-14/thousands-seen-dying-if-terrorists-attack-vulnerable-u-s-grid.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-14/thousands-seen-dying-if-terrorists-attack-vulnerable-u-s-grid.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 14-Nov-2012 x Press Release: National Academy of Sciences Report (redacted) released "Terrorism and the Electrical Power Delivery System".  Originally done in 2007, reviewed by DHS and parts classified  7 "Electric Power Grid 'Inherently Vulnerable' to Terrorist Attacks; Report Delayed in Classification Review, Will Be Updated", The National Academies Press Release, November 14, 2012, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12050 http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12050 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 29-Oct-2012 x x Hurricane Sandy.  29-30 October, 8 million without power. 73 "Hurricane Sandy", Wikipedia, modified January 21, 2014, accessed January 29, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Sandy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Sandy Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 22-Oct-2012 x Succesful US EMP weapon test (CHAMP).  Boeing and Air Force Research Lab Directed Energy Directorate successfully tested the Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) over Utah Test Range.  "renders electronic targets useless" 94 Randy Jackson, "CHAMP - Lights Out", Boeing Feature Story, October 22, 2012, accessed January 30, 2014, http://www.boeing.com/Features/2012/10/bds_champ_10_22_12.html http://www.boeing.com/Features/2012/10/bds_champ_10_22_12.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 1-Oct-2012 x x Virus Infection of Control System.  Unnamed power company contacted Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Reponse Team.  10 computers infected with Mariposa variant via USB drive.  System was down for maintenance, dleayed plant restart 3 weeks. 86 "Virus Infection at an Electric Utility", ICS-CERT Monitor, October/November/December 2012, accessed January 30 2014, https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/Monitors/ICS-CERT_Monitor_Oct-Dec2012.pdf https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/Monitors/ICS-CERT_Monitor_Oct-Dec2012.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 17-Sep-2012 x TV Show - Revolution.  Debut Season.  Dramatizes events 15 years after the start of a worldwide blackout. 11 "Revolution (TV Series", Wikipedia, accessed January 24, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_(TV_series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_(TV_series) Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 10-Sep-2012 x x Cyber attack against Telvent Canada Ltd.  Company discovered breach of firewall and security with software installation and SCADA software stolen.  Attackers tied to China hacking group. Company started notifying clients. 85 Brian Krebs, "Chinese Hackers Blamed for Intrusion at Energy Industry Giant Telvent", Krebsonsecurity.com, September 26, 2012, accessed January 29, 2014, https://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/09/chinese-hackers-blamed-for-intrusion-at-energy-industry-giant-telvent/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/09/chinese-hackers-blamed-for-intrusion-at-energy-industry-giant-telvent/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 30-Jul-2012 x 2012 India Blackout.  30-31 July, Three sections of India’s massive electrical grid collapsed, leaving 620 million people—nearly twice the population of the U.S.--without power for several hours in the biggest blackout in world history as of this date.  5 Patrick Kiger, "Grid Failure", National Geographic, 25 September, 2013, accessed 17 October, 2013, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/american-blackout/articles/grid-failure/.  http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/american-blackout/articles/grid-failure/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 17-Jul-2012 x Report - GAO: Cybersecurity: Challenges in Securing the Electricity Grid.  GAO-12-926T. "In a prior report, GAO has made recommendations related to electricity grid modernization efforts, including developing an approach to monitor compliance with voluntary standards. These recommendations have not yet been implemented." 105 "Cybersecurity: Challenges in Securing the Electricity Grid", GAO Report GAO-12-926T, July 17, 2012, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592508.pdf http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592508.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 1-Jul-2012 x Carrington sized solar storm missed earthby seven days 118 Evan Halper, "Concern grows over possibility of a massive power surge", February 1, 2014, accessed February 6, 2014
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-power-surge-20140202,0,4338050,full.story#axzz2saB3XEWn		 http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-power-surge-20140202,0,4338050,full.story#axzz2saB3XEWn Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 1-Jun-2012 x Report - Large Power Transformers and the U.S. Electric Grid.  An LPT can cost millions of dollars and weigh between approximately 100 and 400 tons, lead times of 20 months. Average age of installed LPTs in the United States is approximately 40 years, with 70 percent of LPTs being 25 years or older. Domestic production capacity for LPTs in the United States is improving (page v-vi) 39 "Large Power Transformers and the U.S. Electric Grid", Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, U.S. Department of Energy, June 2012, accessed January 25, 2014, http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/Large%20Power%20Transformer%20Study%20-%20June%202012_0.pdf http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/Large%20Power%20Transformer%20Study%20-%20June%202012_0.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 14-May-2012 x Conference - Third Annual World Summit on Electric Infrastructure Security.   59 "Transcripts of the Oral Presentations", The Electric Infrastructure Security Summit III, London, May 14-15 2012, accessed January 26, 2014, http://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Geomagnetic%20Disturbance%20Resources%20DL/London_Transcript_112012.pdf http://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Geomagnetic%20Disturbance%20Resources%20DL/London_Transcript_112012.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 1-Mar-2012 x Report - After Action Report 2011 NERC Grid Security Exercise.  34 "2011 NERC Grid Security Exercise After Action Report", North American Electric Reliability Corporation, March 2012, accessed January 25 2014, http://www.nerc.com/files/NERC_GridEx_AAR_16Mar2012_Final.pdf http://www.nerc.com/files/NERC_GridEx_AAR_16Mar2012_Final.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 1-Jan-2012 x Rep Trent Franks bill dies in committee.  Would have required entities that own or operate large transformers to ensure their power systems can be restored promptly in the event of destruction or disability as a result of attack or geomagnetic storm.  House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., let it die in committee. 4 Billy House, "Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus Battles Skeptics in Push to Protect the Planet", National Journal, March 10, 2013,  accessed 17 October, 2013, http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 1-Jan-2012 x x During power outages in the Washington area, Newt Gingrich tweeted, “Friend and coauthor bill forstchen notes washington-baltimore blackout mild taste of what an emp (electromagnetic pulse) attack would do.”  4 Billy House, "Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus Battles Skeptics in Push to Protect the Planet", National Journal, March 10, 2013,  accessed 17 October, 2013, http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2012 1-Jan-2012 x Washington-baltimore blackout 4 Billy House, "Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus Battles Skeptics in Push to Protect the Planet", National Journal, March 10, 2013,  accessed 17 October, 2013, http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 2-Dec-2011 x Conference - Dupont Summit 2011 with Policy Studies Organization (PSO) support.  Sessions 20 and 21 outbrief the Oct 2011 workshop results.  "Policy Implications of Space Weather and Long term Power Outages". 
Panel 1 of 2: Threat and Response From All-of-Nation
Perspective: Federal and Industry Level Response
Chair: Chuck Manto, InfraGard National EMP SIG Manager
Richard Andres, NDU Energy and Environment Program Chair NDU Solar Weather and Grid Vulnerability Exercises
Pane 2:2 Threat and Response From All-of-Nation Perspective: Legislative, State and Local Community Response
Chair: Dave Hunt, CRA
Trent Franks, Congressman, Co-chair House EMP Caucus
Legislative Issues and the Shield Act
Charles Manto, InfraGard National EMP SIG Manager InfraGard and Local Resilience 		 53 "Dupont Summit 2011 Pressing Issues, Little Time", Dupont Summit 2011, December 2, 2011, accessed January 26, 2014, http://www.ipsonet.org/images/PSO_dupont2011.pdf http://www.ipsonet.org/images/PSO_dupont2011.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 16-Nov-2011 x 2011 GridEx.  First sector-wide grid security exercise.  Nov 16-17 2011.  Seventy-five industry and government organizations from the U.S. and Canada participated 34 "2011 NERC Grid Security Exercise After Action Report", North American Electric Reliability Corporation, March 2012, accessed January 25 2014, http://www.nerc.com/files/NERC_GridEx_AAR_16Mar2012_Final.pdf http://www.nerc.com/files/NERC_GridEx_AAR_16Mar2012_Final.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 1-Oct-2011 x "Severe Space Weather Threats to the US Electrical Grids" Held at Capitol Visitors Center Auditorium. First Broad Contingency Planning for Nationwide Critical Infrastructure Collapse.  National Defense University, US Congressional EMP Caucus, InfraGard National's EMP SIG and Maryland's Emergency Management Agency cohosted series of workshops and exercises focusing on geomagnetic disturbances.  Eight participants outbriefed at Dupont Summit 2011 (2 Dec 2011) hosted by Policy Studies Organization 54 "Infragard National Announces New EMP SIG", Infragard Louisiana Membership Alliance, September 22, 2011, accessed January 25, 2014, http://iselama.typepad.com/infragard-members-allianc/2011/09/infragard-national-announces-new-emp-sig.html http://iselama.typepad.com/infragard-members-allianc/2011/09/infragard-national-announces-new-emp-sig.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 8-Sep-2011 x 2011 US Southwest Blackout.  7 million affected.  Stock prices for San Diego Gas & Electric Company (main provider) fluctuated.  Before the blackout, prices had been stable at around $22. Immediately on September 8, prices dropped to 18.76. Afterwards, prices fluctuated wildly between 17 and 22, often on consecutive days. Prices remained on the low end (17-18) more often than the high end (21-22) until they finally stabilized at around $21 beginning on 11 October (about a month later).  No evidence as of December 2012 of a NERC-levied fine. N/A x Research by Karl Pabst, Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University, provided by email on  23 January 2014 N/A Karl Pabst (karl.pabst.vol@gc.ndu.edu)
2011 15-Jul-2011 x Article - The Campaign to Terrify You About EMP 48 Patrick Disney, "The Campaign to Terrify You About EMP", The Atlantic, July 15, 2011, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/the-campaign-to-terrify-you-about-emp/241971/ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/the-campaign-to-terrify-you-about-emp/241971/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 19-Apr-2011 x Report - In the Dark, Crucial Industries Confront Cyberattacks.  Quote: "“Ninety to ninety-five percent of the people working on the smart grid are not concerned about security and only see it as a last box they have to check.”  (page 1) 46 "In the Dark, Crucial Industries Confront Cyberattacks", Center for Strategic Studies and McAfee, April 19, 2011, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/reports/rp-critical-infrastructure-protection.pdf http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/reports/rp-critical-infrastructure-protection.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 11-Apr-2011 x Conference - Second Annual World Summit on Electric Infrastructure Security.   58 "Updated: Second Annual World Summit on Electric Infrastructure Security", Press Release: Committee on Homeland Security, April 11, 2011, accessed January 25, 2014, http://chsdemocrats.house.gov/press/index.asp?ID=626 http://chsdemocrats.house.gov/press/index.asp?ID=626 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 5-Apr-2011 x EMPact advocacy.  Congressional appeal to join Congressional EMP Caucus, and support House Resolution 668 (SHIELD Act). 35 "EMPact America Takes the Hill", EMPact America Press Release, April 5, 2011, accessed January 25 2014, http://empactamerica.org/EMPact-America-takes-the-hill.pdf http://empactamerica.org/EMPact-America-takes-the-hill.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 3-Feb-2011 x Article - America's power grid too vulnerable to cyberattack, US report finds (christian science monitor).  Refers to DOE IG report Mark Clayton, "America's power grid too vulnerable to cyberattack, US report finds", The Christian Science Monitor, February 3, 2011, accessed January 29, 2014, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0203/America-s-power-grid-too-vulnerable-to-cyberattack-US-report-finds http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0203/America-s-power-grid-too-vulnerable-to-cyberattack-US-report-finds Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2011 26-Jan-2011 x Report: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Monitoring of Power Grid Cyber Security 75 "Audit Report: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Monitoring of Power Grid Cyber Security", US Department of Energy Office of Inspector General Office of Audits and Inspections, January 26, 2011, accessed January 29, 2014, http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2011/02/DoE-IG-Report-on-Grid-Security.pdf http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2011/02/DoE-IG-Report-on-Grid-Security.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 1-Nov-2010 x Book - Grid Act Impact: Results of New Consensus Warning of a Year-Long Blackout.   56 Charles Manto, "Grid Act Impact: Results of New Consensus Warning of a Year-Long Blackout.", November 1, 2010, accessed January 25, 2014, http://books.google.com/books?id=ZT1j103bAu0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=ZT1j103bAu0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 20-Sep-2010 x Conference - First Annual Electric Infrastructure Security Summit 60 "Summary Report", First Annual Electric Infrastructure Security Summit, September 20, 2010, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.eiscouncil.com/images/upload/media/EISS%20London%20Report_2.pdf http://www.eiscouncil.com/images/upload/media/EISS%20London%20Report_2.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 8-Jul-2010 x x Article - NSA "Perfect Citizen" program awarded Raytheon Corp $100M to detect cyber assaults on critical infrastructure like electric grid 108 Siobhan Gorman, "U.S. Plans Cyber Shield for Utilities, Companies", The Wall Street Journal, updated July 8, 2010, accessed January 31, 2014, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704545004575352983850463108?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704545004575352983850463108.html http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704545004575352983850463108?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704545004575352983850463108.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 1-Jul-2010 x Report - Homeland Security Bottom-Up Review  The Bottom Up Review is the results of a DHS assessment started in Nov 2009 to align DHS programmatic activities and organizational structure with the missions and goals identified in the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QSHR). Electric Grid identified as part of Energy Critical Infrastructure, with DOE as the lead agency (Annex E) 21 "Bottom-Up Review Report", Department of Homeland Security, July 2010, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/bur_bottom_up_review.pdf http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/bur_bottom_up_review.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 9-Jun-2010 x H.R. 5026 GRID Act  Introduced 13April2010, passed by voice vote in House (9June2010), not brought up in Senate.  If enacted, this legislation would have provided the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with the authority to require necessary actions to protect the grid. However, this legislation did not pass the Senate and has not been taken up again by the House since that time. (GRID ACT bill is source doc #81) 22, 80, 81 x (22) Congressman Edward J. Markey and Congressman Henry A. Waxman, "Electric Grid Vulnerability: Industry Responses Reveal Security Gaps", United States House of Representatives, May 21, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report-Electric-Grid-Vulnerability-2013-5-21.pdf
(80) H.R.5026 GRID ACT, OpenCongress.Org, accessed 29 January 2014, http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h5026/show
(81) H.R.5026, GPO.Gov, accessed january 29, 2014, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr5026eh/pdf/BILLS-111hr5026eh.pdf		 (22) http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report-Electric-Grid-Vulnerability-2013-5-21.pdf 
(80) http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h5026/show
(81) http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr5026eh/pdf/BILLS-111hr5026eh.pdf		 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 1-Jun-2010 x x x x x Report - High Impact, Low Frequency Workshop.  Address 3 threats: Coordinated Cyber/Physical Attack, Pandemic Illness, and Geomagnetic and Electromagnetic Events. Quote: "Geomagnetically-induced currents on system infrastructure have the potential to result in widespread tripping of key transmission lines and irreversible physical damage to large transformers" (pg 11) 31 "High-Impact, Low-Frequency Event Risk to the North American Bulk Power System", A Jointly-Commissioned Summary Report of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s November 2009 Workshop, June 2010, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.nerc.com/pa/CI/Resources/Documents/HILF_Report.pdf http://www.nerc.com/pa/CI/Resources/Documents/HILF_Report.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 1-Jun-2010 x x x Stuxnet Worm Discovered.  First known intentional cyberattack.  Security company discovered, widely reported in July 2010. Discovered due to accidently spreading beyond initial target (Iran's Natanz plant).  First variant appeared June 2009. Other variants possibly in Nov 2007, March 2010, April 2010.  Spreads via Microsoft Windows to target Siemens supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.  Reports indicate it affected five Iranian organizations among many other nations.  60% of infected computers were in Iran.  The United States and Israel are suspected to be behind the attack. 19 "Stuxnet", Wikipedia, accessed January 25, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 14-Mar-2010 x x 2010 Chile Blackout.  Affected 15 million, 90% of population.  Major transformer failed. Power restored within few hours to next day. The president blamed it on recent earthquake. Investigation revealed root cause as equipment failure and lack of coordination, leading to charges against all 115 companies involved in the electrical sector. 72 "2010 Chile Blackout", Wikipedia, modified January 10, 2014, accessed January 29, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2010_Chile_blackout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2010_Chile_blackout Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2010 1-Jan-2010 x Report - Geomagnetic Storms and their Impacts on the U.S. Power Grid. 100 Year geomagnetic storm at 45 degree has the potential to cause system collapse across entire eastern seaboard to Mississippi, most of Texas, and entire states of Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington (p 3-26, Figure 3-26). That could be over 70 percent of the nation's electrical service (p 4-1).   "Potential loss of 216 large power transformers in extreme storm. In these scenarios, the world demand for replacement apparatus could dwarf the world capability to manufacture and supply replacement apparatus" (p 3-27) 33 John Kappenman, "Geomagnetic Storms and their Impacts on the U.S. Power Grid", Metatech Corp for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2010, 3-26, accessed 25 January 2014, http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-319.pdf http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-319.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 10-Nov-2009 x x x 2009 Brazil and Paraguay Blackout.  Affected 60-80 million lasting about 6 hours.  Caused by heavy rain driving short circuits, shutting down the Itaipu Dam for the first time in it's 25 year history.  Reported in Slashdot and 60 minutes to be the work of hackers.  Dec 2010 Wikileaks suggested otherwise. 68 x "2009 Brazil and Paraguay Blackout", Wikipedia, modified June, 4, 2013, accessed January 29, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Brazil_and_Paraguay_blackout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Brazil_and_Paraguay_blackout Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 10-Nov-2009 x x x x x High Impact, Low Frequency Workshop.  The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) workshop on High-Impact, Low-Frequency risks to the North American bulk power system occurred Nov 9-10 2009.  Report issued June 2010. 31 "High-Impact, Low-Frequency Event Risk to the North American Bulk Power System", A Jointly-Commissioned Summary Report of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s November 2009 Workshop, June 2010, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.nerc.com/pa/CI/Resources/Documents/HILF_Report.pdf http://www.nerc.com/pa/CI/Resources/Documents/HILF_Report.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 6-Nov-2009 x 60 Minutes Episode "CyberWar: Sabotaging the System". Retired Admiral McConnell stated sophisticated attackers could take down grid, strategically they'd do it in depth of winter or summer, and that US was not prepared. Names Brazil 2005 and 2007 power failures as cyber attacks. 15 "CyberWar: Sabotaging the System", 60 Minutes, November 6, 2009, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cyber-war-sabotaging-the-system-06-11-2009/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cyber-war-sabotaging-the-system-06-11-2009/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 1-Oct-2009 x Report - Defense Critical Infrastructure: Actions needed to improve the identification and management of electrical power risks and vulnerabilities to DoD critical assets.  GAO report.  Quote: concluded "that of DOD’s 34 most critical global assets, 31 rely on commercially operated electricity grids for their primary source of electricity" (page 6) 24 "Defense Critical Infrastructure: Actions needed to improve the identification and management of electrical power risks and vulnerabilities to DoD critical assets", Government Accountability Office Report GAO-10-147, October 2009, accessed January 25, 2014, http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/docs/clearinghouse/GAO_Defense_Critical_Infrastructure_102009.pdf http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/docs/clearinghouse/GAO_Defense_Critical_Infrastructure_102009.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 2-Sep-2009 x wired article on 1859 x wired Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 2-Sep-2009 x Article - Telegraphs Ran on Electric Air in Crazy 1859 Magnetic Storm 49 Alexis Madrigal, "Telegraphs Ran on Electric Air in Crazy 1859 Magnetic Storm", September 2, 2009, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/telegraphs-ran-on-electric-air-in-crazy-magnetic-storm-150-years-ago/ http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/telegraphs-ran-on-electric-air-in-crazy-magnetic-storm-150-years-ago/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 24-Aug-2009 x Report - After Action Report Secure Grid '09  Event held July9-10 2009   50* "After Action Report, Secure Grid '09", Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, August 24, 2009.  Note: Hardcopy only, FOUO Note: Hardcopy only, FOUO Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 1-Aug-2009 x x x 2009 Russia Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam Disaster.  One of the dam’s 10 650-megawatt hydro turbine generators, weighing more than 1,000 tons, was mistakenly started by a computer operator 500 miles away. As a result, the generator began spinning, rose 50 feet in the air, and exploded, killing 75 people and destroying eight of the remaining nine turbines at the dam. Located near the far eastern city of Cheremushki 18 Bill Gertz, "The Cyber-Dam Breaks", The Washington Free Beacon, May 1, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://freebeacon.com/the-cyber-dam-breaks/ http://freebeacon.com/the-cyber-dam-breaks/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 9-Jul-2009 x Secure Grid '09.  Electrical Grid Crisis Tabletop Exercise. Private industry, trade associations, state and federal agencies assembled at Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University for crisis simulation. 135+ individuals
2009 29-Jun-2009 x Article - America is Vulnerable to an Electromagnetic Pulse Attack 47 "America is Vulnerable to an Electromagnetic Pulse Attack", Human Events, Powerful Conservative Voices, June 29, 2009, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.humanevents.com/2009/06/29/america-is-vulnerable-to-an-electromagnetic-pulse-attack/ http://www.humanevents.com/2009/06/29/america-is-vulnerable-to-an-electromagnetic-pulse-attack/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 1-Mar-2009 x Report - American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure (Energy D+).  No report findable online. Appears to be videos. Links to 2009 report go to 2013 report instead (likely web link error) 103 "2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure", "American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), March, 2009, accessed January 31, 2014, Video Introduction. http://www.asce.org/Infrastructure/Report-Card/2009-Report-Card-for-America-s-Infrastructure/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 1-Jan-2009 x Shodan - Google for Hackers Launched. Search engine finds devices connected to the internet. Still up as of January 2014. Examples of devices: traffic lights, security cameras, HVAC systems, industrial/infrastructure control systems, power grids, etc. Many have no or default security set to admin/1234. Publicized in May 2013 by Money and Sep 2013 by Forbes. 17 "Showdan (website)", Wikipedia, accessed January 25, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shodan_(website) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shodan_(website)  Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 1-Jan-2009 x National Infrastructure Protection Plan Published x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2009 1-Jan-2009 x Novel - One Second After.  Dramatizes life/death in small town over one year period after EMP attack against US, causing all power to fail x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2008 26-Dec-2008 x x x 2008 Ohau Lightening Storm Blackout 124 Rick Daysog, "Oahu power blackout caused by 5 lightning strikes, HECO says", TheHonoluluAdvertiser, January 10, 2009, accessed February 8, 2014, http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Jan/10/ln/hawaii901100344.html http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Jan/10/ln/hawaii901100344.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2008 19-Jul-2008 x x Georgia Cyber attacks.  Series of Russian cyber attacks on Georgia begin - DDOS, web defacement.  No electrical grid impact 92 (92) Stephen Korns and Joshua Kastenberg, "Georgia's Cyber Left Hook", Army Strategic Studies Institute Parameters, Winter 2008, accessed January 30, 2014, http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/articles/08winter/korns.pdf
(91) Eneken Tikk et. al, "Cyber Attacks Against Georgia: Legal LEssons Identified", Tallinn Estonia Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence, November 2008, January 30, 2014, http://www.carlisle.army.mil/DIME/documents/Georgia%201%200.pdf		 (92) http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/articles/08winter/korns.pdf
(91) http://www.carlisle.army.mil/DIME/documents/Georgia%201%200.pdf		 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2008 10-Jul-2008 x x Congressional Hearing - House Armed Services Committee. Electromagnetic Threat.  Testified: William Graham  (Chairman of EMP Commission).  Quote: “Terrorists or state actors that possess one or a few relatively unsophisticated nuclear-armed missiles may well calculate that, instead of or in addition to destroying a city or military base, they could obtain the greatest economic-political- military utility from conducting an EMP attack.” 4 x Billy House, "Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus Battles Skeptics in Push to Protect the Planet", National Journal, March 10, 2013,  accessed 17 October, 2013, http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2008 31-May-2008 x Article - China's Cyber-Militia (National Journal) 61 Shane Harris, "China's Cyber-Militia", National Journal, May 31, 2008, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/china-s-cyber-militia-20080531 http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/china-s-cyber-militia-20080531 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2008 1-Apr-2008 x x Report - Final Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States From Electromagnetic Pulse Attack.  Quote: "concluding that the threat of an electromagnetic pulse is very real and that “the current vulnerability of our critical infrastructures can both invite and reward attack if not corrected.” 4, 42 (4) Billy House, "Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus Battles Skeptics in Push to Protect the Planet", National Journal, March 10, 2013, accessed 17 October, 2013, http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310
(42) Dr. John Foster, Jr and others, "Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, Critical National Infrastructures", Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, April 2008, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf		 (4) http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 
(42) http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf		 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2008 26-Feb-2008 x 2008 Florida Blackout.  1 million affected.  Stock prices for NextEra Energy, Inc. (Florida Power & Light was the main provider and is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy. dropped over a four day period following the blackout, 6.2% (from 64.58 to 64.00). Afterwards, it took until April 2, or almost an entire month, for stocks to climb back up to stabilize back up at pre-blackout levels.  As a result of the 2003 Northeast Blackout, new regulations were put in place. These resulted in a fine of $25 million for NextEra Energy (levied in 2010). Two nuclear power reactors were forced to shut down as a result of the blackout N/A x Research by Karl Pabst, Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University, provided by email on  23 January 2014 N/A Karl Pabst (karl.pabst.vol@gc.ndu.edu)
2008 1-Feb-2008 x Report - Defense Science Board Task Force on DoD Energy Strategy "More Fight Less Fuel".  Key Quote: “critical missions . . . are almost entirely dependent on the national transmission grid. About 85% of the energy infrastructure upon which DOD depends is commercially owned, and 99% of the electric energy DOD installations consume originates outside the fence. . . . In most cases, neither the grid nor on-base backup power provides sufficient reliability to ensure continuity of critical national priority functions and oversight of strategic missions in the face of a long term (several months) outage." (page 18) 23 Defense Science Board, "Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on DoD Energy Strategy "More Fight Less Fuel", Defense Science Board, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, February 2008, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/ADA477619.pdf http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/ADA477619.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2007 1-Oct-2007 x National Strategy for Homeland Security.   40 "National Strategy for Homeland Security", Department of Homeland Security, October 2007, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/nat_strat_homelandsecurity_2007.pdf http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/nat_strat_homelandsecurity_2007.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2007 26-Sep-2007 x 2007 Brazil Blackout.  2 day outage in state of Espirito Santo, affected 3 million in dozens of cities. In Vitoria, the world's largest iron ore producer had several plants knocked offline costing $7M. Hinted at by CIA and President as the one location hackers induced a blackout outside the United States, named by Richard Clarke with no details. 60minutes report pegged to this blackout using 6 sources. Government report a year later blamed utility company’s negligent maintenance of high voltage insulators on two transmission lines (deposits of dust and soot from burning fields in the Campos region of Espirito Santo). Utility company: Furnas Centrais Elétricas was fined by Brazil's energy regulatory agency $3.27million. 14 Marcelo Soares, "Brazilian Blackout Traced to Sooty Insulators, Not Hackers", Wired Threat Level, November 9, 2009, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/brazil_blackout/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/brazil_blackout/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2007 10-Sep-2007 x Report - Initial Economic Assessment of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Impact upon the Baltimore-Washington-Richmond Region.  Quote: "result in economic output loss potentially exceeding $770 billion, or 7 percent of the nation’s annual gross domestic product" (page 1) 43 "Initial Economic Assessment of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Impact upon the Baltimore-Washington-Richmond Region", The Sage Policy Group, September 10, 2007, accessed January 25, 2014, http://survive-emp.com/fileadmin/White-Papers/EMP-Resources/EMP-Econ-Study.pdf http://survive-emp.com/fileadmin/White-Papers/EMP-Resources/EMP-Econ-Study.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2007 1-Sep-2007 x Report - National Academy of Sciences Report "Terrorism and the Electrical Power Delivery System" finished. Reviewed by DHS and parts classified (per NYT article).  Released in 2012. 7 "Electric Power Grid 'Inherently Vulnerable' to Terrorist Attacks; Report Delayed in Classification Review, Will Be Updated", The National Academies Press Release, November 14, 2012, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12050 http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12050 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2007 27-Apr-2007 x x 2007 Estonia Cyberattacks. No direct electrical grid effects. Mostly DDOS, spam and web site defacements 89 x "2007 cyberattacks on Estonia", Wikipedia, modified July 19, 2013, accessed January 30, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberattacks_on_Estonia_2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberattacks_on_Estonia_2007 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2007 21-Mar-2007 x x First Significant SCADA Remote Flaw.  Neutralbit reported the first known remotely exploitable SCADA security vulnerability. Caused a generator to self-destruct. Note Vitek Boden 2001 case was a disgruntled insider remote attack on SCADA. 87 "Hole Found in Protocol Handling Vital National Infrastructure", Phys.Org, March 25, 2007, accessed January 30, 2014, http://phys.org/news94025004.html http://phys.org/news94025004.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2007 1-Jan-2007 x Movie - Live Free or Die Hard.  Plot includes cyber attack against power grid x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2006 5-Dec-2006 x A modern solar flare recorded Dec. 5, 2006, by the X-ray Imager onboard NOAA's GOES-13 satellite. x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2006 4-Nov-2006 x x 2006 European Blackout.  Affected 15 million across Europe including Poland, France, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Greece and Balkans.  Caused by planned disconnection in Germany to allow a ship to pass underneath. Changes in load and miscommunication resulted in cascade. 71 x "2006 European Blackout", Wikipedia, modified October 22, 2013, accessed January 29, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_blackout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_blackout Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2006 15-Oct-2006 x x 2006 Hawaii Earthquake.  Oahu generators tripped with blackouts up to 14 hours. 123 Audrey McAvoy "Hawaii moves to shore up Oahu's electrical grid", BloombergBusinessweek, February 7, 2014, accessed February 8, 2014, http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/408087?type=ap http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/408087?type=ap Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2006 1-Aug-2006 x x L.A. Traffic Light Attack. two disgruntled transit engineers sabotaged the traffic light controls at four busy L.A. corners for four days, causing major traffic jams 16 Thomas Rid, "Cyber-Sabotage is Easy: so why aren't hackers crashing the grid?", ForeignPolicy.com, July 23, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/07/23/cyber_sabotage_is_easy_i_know_i_did_it http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/07/23/cyber_sabotage_is_easy_i_know_i_did_it Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2006 1-Mar-2006 x Report - Council on Foreign Relations: Neglected Defense: Mobilizing the Private Sector to Support Homeland Security x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2005 1-Dec-2005 x X-rays from another solar storm disrupted satellite-to-ground communications and Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation signals for about 10 minutes.   x  (NASA science news 2011) Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2005 18-Aug-2005 x 2005 Java-Bali Blackout.  Caused by failure of transmission line, affected 100million people for 7 hours. 67 x "2005 Java-Bali Blackout", Wikipedia, modified April 20, 2013, accessed January 29, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Java%E2%80%93Bali_blackout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Java%E2%80%93Bali_blackout Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2005 1-Mar-2005 x Report - American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure (Energy D).  'elevated risks of blackouts' 102 "2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure", "American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), March, 2005, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/2005_Report_Card-Full_Report.pdf http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/2005_Report_Card-Full_Report.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2005 1-Jan-2005 x The Energy Policy Act of 2005 includes provisions to strengthen the electric grid, including provisions for the introduction of mandatory reliability standards.  6 x National Research Council, Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2012, 2, accessed 30 November, 2013, http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12050#toc. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12050#toc Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2005 1-Jan-2005 x x x 2005 Brazil Blackout.  North of Rio de Janeiro, 3 cities and 10s of thousands affected.  CBS claimed Nov 2009 it was caused by hackers. Brazil disputes the report 14 Marcelo Soares, "Brazilian Blackout Traced to Sooty Insulators, Not Hackers", Wired Threat Level, November 9, 2009, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/brazil_blackout/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/brazil_blackout/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2004 1-Sep-2004 x Report - Understanding the Cost of Power Interruptions to U.S. Electricity Consumers.  Quote: "power interruption and power quality estimates ranging from $119 billion to $188 billion per year" (page 1) 25 Kristina Hamachi LaCommare and Joseph H. Eto, "Understanding the Cost of Power Interruptions to U.S. Electricity Consumers", Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, September 2004, accessed January 25, 2014, http://certs.lbl.gov/pdf/55718.pdf http://certs.lbl.gov/pdf/55718.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2004 1-Apr-2004 x Report - Final Report on the August 14, 2003 Blackout in the United States and Canada: Causes and Recommendations.  Quote: "Estimates of total costs in the United States range between $4 billion and $10 billion (U.S. dollars). In Canada, gross domestic product was down 0.7% in August, there was a net loss of 18.9 million work hours, and manufacturing shipments in Ontario were down $2.3 billion (Canadian dollars)" (page 1)  26 "Final Report on the August 14, 2003 Blackout in the United States and Canada: Causes and Recommendations", US-Canada Power Systems Outage Task Force, April 2004, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/reliability/blackout/ch1-3.pdf http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/reliability/blackout/ch1-3.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2004 1-Jan-2004 x x Report - Executive Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States From Electromagnetic Pulse Attack.  Final released in 2008. 4, 41 x (4) Billy House, "Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus Battles Skeptics in Push to Protect the Planet", National Journal, March 10, 2013, accessed 17 October, 2013, http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310
(41) Dr. John Foster, Jr and others, "Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, Volume 1: Executive Report 2004", Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, 2004, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.empcommission.org/docs/empc_exec_rpt.pdf		 (4) http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/electromagnetic-pulse-caucus-battles-skeptics-in-push-to-protect-the-planet-20130310 
(41) http://www.empcommission.org/docs/empc_exec_rpt.pdf		 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 Dec 17 2003 x HSPD-7 Released.  Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7: Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization, and Protection 36 "Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7: Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization, and Protection", Department of Homeland Security, December 17, 2003, accessed January 25, 2014, https://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-presidential-directive-7 https://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-presidential-directive-7  Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 4-Nov-2003 x X28 Solar Flare - most powerful recorded.  Earth received glancing blow.   95 "The Biggest Solar X-Ray Flare Ever is Classified as X28", European Space Agency Extreme Space Science, November 6, 2003, accessed January 30, 2014, http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Extreme_space/The_biggest_solar_X-ray_flare_ever_is_classified_as_X28 http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Extreme_space/The_biggest_solar_X-ray_flare_ever_is_classified_as_X28  Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 1-Oct-2003 x x x 2003 Halloween Storms. Three large regions on the sun drove minor grid disturbances in North America (capacitor trip in NW and transformer heating in NE).  Stronger ground magnetic field fluctuations in Northern Europe.  Sweden experienced blackout of less than an hour affecting 50,000 customers.  Most surprising: 12 transformers in South Africa that suffered damage and had to be removed.  Low altitude (equivalent of Florida) usually assumed to be immune from surface electric fields strong enough to heat transformers.  (33) Eskom grid (South Africa) lost 14 large 400kV transformers. 9, 33 Dr. Nicole Homeier and Dr. Lisa Wei, Solar Storm Risk to the North American Electric Grid (Lloyd’s and the Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. (AER), 2013), 9, accessed October 20, 2013, http://www.lloyds.com/~/media/Lloyds/Reports/Emerging %20Risk%20Reports/Solar%20Storm%20Risk%20to%20the%20North%20American%20Electric%20Grid.pdf.
(33) John Kappenman, "Geomagnetic Storms and their Impacts on the U.S. Power Grid", Metatech Corp for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2010, 3-27, accessed 25 January 2014, http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-319.pdf		 http://www.lloyds.com/~/media/lloyds/reports/emerging%20risk%20reports/solar%20storm%20risk%20to%20the%20north%20american%20electric%20grid.pdf (33) http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-319.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 28-Sep-2003 x x 2003 Italy Nation-wide Blackout. Entire nation for 12 hours and part of Switzerland/Geneva for 3 hours. Largest blackout in 2003 affecting 58 million, most serious in Italy in 70 years.  Caused by two trees and then cascade failure. 63 "FINAL REPORT of the Investigation Committee on the 28 September 2003 Blackout in Italy", UCTE, April 2004, accessed January 29, 2014,http://www.rae.gr/old/cases/C13/Italy/UCTE_rept.pdf   http://www.rae.gr/old/cases/C13/italy/UCTE_rept.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 23-Sep-2003 x Congressional Hearing: Implications of Power Blackouts for the Nation's Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (follow-up) 12 "Implications of Power Blackouts for the Nation's Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection", Joint Hearing of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Science, and Research and Development and the Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security of the Select Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress First Session, September 4, 2003 and September 23, 2003, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108hhrg99793/html/CHRG-108hhrg99793.htm http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108hhrg99793/html/CHRG-108hhrg99793.htm Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 3-Sep-2003 x Congressional Hearing: Implications of Power Blackouts for the Nation's Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection 12 "Implications of Power Blackouts for the Nation's Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection", Joint Hearing of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Science, and Research and Development and the Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security of the Select Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress First Session, September 4, 2003 and September 23, 2003, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108hhrg99793/html/CHRG-108hhrg99793.htm http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108hhrg99793/html/CHRG-108hhrg99793.htm Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 1-Sep-2003 x Report - American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2003 Update to the 2001 Report Card for America's Infrastructure (Energy trend down)  References Aug 2003 blackout. 101 "2003 Progress Report, an Updatee to the 2001 Report Card for America's Infrastructure", "American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), September 2003, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/Full_Progress_Report_2003.pdf http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/Full_Progress_Report_2003.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 14-Aug-2003 x x x 2003 US North East Blackout  100 power plants, including 22 nuclear reactors, cutoff power for 50 million 14 people in eight states and Canada. Power restored within 48 hours to most of the effected areas. (1).  Duration about four hours. Caused by a sagging power line coming in contact with overgrown trees, cost $6 billion. (2) US Company First Energy saw shares drop from $31 to $25 in four days after the Northeast Blackout, as well as the attack on the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ohio. However there does not appear to have had much of a long term impact. Before the blackout on 14 August, shares had already been dropping at roughly the same rate for about two weeks. Afterwards, it took about two and a half weeks for share prices to climb back up to the $31 pre-blackout price. In another few days (3 weeks post-blackout) share prices stabilized at around $32, or $1 higher than pre-blackout levels (3)  Largest blackout in North American history, and contributed to at least 11 deaths. (4)  Partial blame also goes to a software bug that hampered communications to grid supervisors who might have responded more quickly. (5) (4) 22, (5) 37 x (1)(congressional hearing Sep 2003) (2)(19 aug 2013 U.S. power plants, utilities face growing cyber vulnerability) (3) Research by Karl Pabst, Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University, provided by email on 23 January 2014 (4) Congressman Edward J. Markey and Congressman Henry A. Waxman, "Electric Grid Vulnerability: Industry Responses Reveal Security Gaps", United States House of Representatives, May 21, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report-Electric-Grid-Vulnerability-2013-5-21.pdf
(5) Steven Bucci, "A Better Way: Promoting Cybersecurity for the Electric Sector and Critical Infrastructure", The Heritage Foundation Issue Brief No. 4090, November 18, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2013/pdf/IB4090.pdf		 (4) http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report-Electric-Grid-Vulnerability-2013-5-21.pdf (5) http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2013/pdf/IB4090.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater), Karl Pabst (karl.pabst.vol@gc.ndu.edu)
2003 1-Jan-2003 x Slammer Worm affects Ohio Davis-Besse Nuclear Plant.  Disabled safety monitoring system for five hours despite firewall.  Went through contractor's T1 line that was circumventing the firewall.  Plant had been offline since February 2002.  10 Kevin Poulsen, "Slammer worm crashed Ohio nuke plant network", SecurityFocus, August 19, 2003, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6767 http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6767 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 1-Jan-2003 x SQL/Slammer worm caused electric utility to lose control of SCADA system for several hours; resorted to manual ops of transmission and generation systems x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2003 1-Jan-2003 x Burns & McDonnell Military Base Electrical Infrastructure Study. Reportedly in first year (as of 2003) of five year study to assess critical vulnerabilities. Called IAP project. "Within the first six months of the project, assessments were completed for more than 20 mili- tary bases in Guam, Hawaii, and the continental United States, with another 50-plus assessments scheduled for each of the next four years." (Results, final reports not found) 20 "Shaping a Secure Future", BenchMark, No. 3 2003, Burns & McDonnell, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.burnsmcd.com/Resource_/Article/5773/PdfFile/article-shapingasecurefuture.pdf http://www.burnsmcd.com/Resource_/Article/5773/PdfFile/article-shapingasecurefuture.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2002 1-May-2002 x x DoD critical infrastructure assurance program (CIAP) report.  Evidence of coordinated cyber reconnaissance effort directed against critical assets of at least two electric utilities participating in DoD sponsored program. Probes from China, Hong Kong, South Korea with each probe building upon previous probes x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2001 1-Sep-2001 x Nimda worm compromised SCADA system of electric utility, propagated into internal project network of SCADA vendor via support communications circuits, launching further attacks against other SCADA customers x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2001 1-Mar-2001 x Report - American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2001 Report Card for America's Infrastructure (Energy D+).  First year of energy. Comment about older tech, long-term reliability. 100 "2001 Report Card for America's Infrastructure", "American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), March, 2001, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/Full_Report_Card_2001.pdf http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/Full_Report_Card_2001.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2001 2-Jan-2001 x 2001 Northern India Blackout.  Lasted 12 hours, affecting 226 million (1/4 India's population), $107M estimated loss. Cause appeared to be old equipment unable to adjust to voltage fluctuations. 66 Sarath Kumara, "India's entire northern electricity grid collapses for 12 hours", World Socialist Web Site, January 9, 2001, accessed January 29, 2014, http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2001/01/ind-j09.html http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2001/01/ind-j09.html Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2001 1-Jan-2001 x x Congress established EMP commission x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
2000 23-Apr-2000 x x Maroochy Shire, Queensland Sewage Cyber Attack. Vitek Boden caught on 23 April 2000 after 46 attempts to take control of sewage system between March and April 2000.  Caused millions of litres of raw sewage to spill into parks, rivers and Hyatt Regency Hotel grounds.  He was disgruntled after being rejected for a job.  Senatence 31 Oct 2001 to two years. 88 Marshall Abrams and Joe Weiss, "Malicious Control System Cyber Security Attack Case Study-Maroochy Water Services, Australia", National Institute of Standards and Technology Industrial Control System Security Documents Online, July 23, 2008, accessed January 30, 2014, http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SMA/fisma/ics/documents/Maroochy-Water-Services-Case-Study_report.pdf http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SMA/fisma/ics/documents/Maroochy-Water-Services-Case-Study_report.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1999 26-Dec-1999 x x x 1999 France Power Loss due to Cyclone Lothar and Martin. affected 3.4 million, used all available generators in Europe and Canada, took down a fourth of France's high-tension lines, 300 high-voltage transmission pylons toppled. Described as one of greatest energy distruptions experienced by modern developed country. 70 Yom Tatge, "Looking Back, Looking Forward: Anatol, Lothar and Martin Ten Years Later", Air Worldwide, December 09, 2009, accessed January 29, 2014, http://www.air-worldwide.com/Publications/AIR-Currents/Looking-Back,-Looking-Forward--Anatol,-Lothar-and-Martin-Ten-Years-Later/ http://www.air-worldwide.com/Publications/AIR-Currents/Looking-Back,-Looking-Forward--Anatol,-Lothar-and-Martin-Ten-Years-Later/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1999 1-Nov-1999 x x San Diego County Water Authority and San Diego Gas and Electric companies experienced severe electromagnetic interference to SCADA….. x (Think from EMP commission) Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1998 5-Mar-1998 x Report - American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 1998 Report Card for America's Infrastructure.  Notable: no energy rating.  Later years include energy infrastructure. 99 "1998 Report Card for America's Infrastructure", "American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), March 5, 1998, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/adam1.pdf http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/adam1.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1998 20-Feb-1998 x x x 1998 Auckland Power Crisis.  Five week long power outage affecting Auckland, New Zealand due to the failure of old power cables during hot weather. 69 "1998 Auckland power crisis", Wikipedia, modified July 15, 2013, accessed January 29, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Auckland_power_crisis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Auckland_power_crisis Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1998 1-Feb-1998 x Report - Fragile Foundations: A report on America's Public Works. Final Report to the President and Congress.  Notable: no energy infrastructure included. In later years, energy is listed and graded in their report cards. 98 "Fragile Foundations: A report on America's Public Works. Final Report to the President and Congress", National Council on Public Works Improvement, February 1998, accessed January 31, 2014, http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/Full_Report_Card_1988.pdf http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Report_Card/Full_Report_Card_1988.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1997 1-Mar-1997 x x Airport Control Tower Attack.  Teenager in Worcester, Massachusetts, used a dial-up modem to disable controls systems at the airport control tower.  16 Thomas Rid, "Cyber-Sabotage is Easy: so why aren't hackers crashing the grid?", ForeignPolicy.com, July 23, 2013, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/07/23/cyber_sabotage_is_easy_i_know_i_did_it http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/07/23/cyber_sabotage_is_easy_i_know_i_did_it Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1997 1-Jan-1997 x Report by Clinton White House's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.  Conducted a six-month investigation of power grid cybersecurity, described a national system controlled by Byzantine networks riddled with basic security holes, including widespread use of unsecured SCADA systems, and ample connections between control centers and utility company business networks. 10 x Kevin Poulsen, "Slammer worm crashed Ohio nuke plant network", SecurityFocus, August 19, 2003, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6767 http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6767 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1991 13-Jan-1991 x x US Request to use EMP over Iraq.  Newsweek Article  According to two well-informed sources, the U.S. commander in the gulf, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, requested authorization to explode a nuclear device high over Iraq at the start of hostilities. Such a blast would generate a massive electromagnetic pulse, which would shut down every electronic device in Iraq. One source said that the request had gone as high as President Bush, who rejected it. 44 John Barry, "The Nuclear Option: Thinking the Unthinkable", Newsweek, January 13, 1991, Updated March 13, 2010, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-option-thinking-unthinkable-202742 http://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-option-thinking-unthinkable-202742 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1989 1-Aug-1989 x x Storm caused a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market  x (Wikipedia 1989 storm) Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1989 13-Mar-1989 x x x 1989 Quebec Blackout.  March 13 1989 geomagnetic storm.  Entire Quebec power grid went from normal operation at 2:44 a.m. to complete collapse by 2:46 a.m.   (The complete electrical grid collapse actually took 92 seconds and occurred in the middle of the night.) Geomagnetic storms that disrupted electric power transmission from the Hydro Québec generating station in Canada, blacking out most of the province and plunging 6 million people into darkness for 9 hours; aurora-induced power surges even melted power transformers in New Jersey. Most back up within 11 hours.  Hydroelectric generation allowed rapid restoration. 32 x Peter Behr and ClimateWire, "Solar Flare This Week Illuminated Power Grid's Vulnerability", Scientific American, June 9, 2011, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-flare-this-week-illluminated-power-grid-vulnerability/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-flare-this-week-illluminated-power-grid-vulnerability/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1989 9-Mar-1989 x Corona mass ejection x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1989 6-Mar-1989 x x15 class solar flare x Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1986 1-Jan-1986 x FBI disrupted power plant attacks.  Plan was by a radical splinter group connected to an environmental organization to attack power plants in Arizona, California, and Colorado 12 "Implications of Power Blackouts for the Nation's Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection", Joint Hearing of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Science, and Research and Development and the Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security of the Select Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress First Session, September 4, 2003 and September 23, 2003, accessed January 24, 2014, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108hhrg99793/html/CHRG-108hhrg99793.htm http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108hhrg99793/html/CHRG-108hhrg99793.htm Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1977 13-Jul-1977 x New York City Blackout of 1977.  July 13-14. While limited to NYC, notable for city-wide looting, disorder and arson.  Caused by several lightning strikes.  Timing was during severe financial crisis and Son of Sam murders. Sources contrast this blackout with the good-natured 1965 blackout. 1,161 stores looted, 1,037 fires (14 multiple alarm), 3,776 arrested in largest mass arrest in city history, $300M in damages. 64 x "New York City Blackout of 1977", Wikipedia, modified 23 January 2014, accessed January 29, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_blackout_of_1977 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1974 1-Jan-1974 x Paper about 1972 incident, Bell Systems Technical Journal.  Louis J. Lanzerotti, retired Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories one of authors.  Bell Systems redesigned their power systems as a result.  Used 1859 event data. x (wired 2009). Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1972 4-Aug-1972 x x Geomagnetic storms, Bell Telephone line running from Chicago to San Francisco got knocked out. (Wired 2009).  That event, in fact, caused AT&T to redesign its power system for transatlantic cables  x (NASA science news 2011) Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1965 9-Nov-1965 x Northeast Blackout of 1965. Over 30 million, 80K sq miles affected for up to 13 hours, including NY, NJ, VT, RI, NH, MA, CT and Ontario. Human error was the cause when a relay was installed incorrectly and tripped at too low a level, overloading other circuits in a cascade. Spawned the 1968 movie Where Were you When the Lights Went Out starting Doris Day. 65 x "Northeast Blackout of 1965", Wikipedia, modified 11 January 2014, accessed 29 January 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Blackout_of_1965 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Blackout_of_1965 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1963 x First EMP simulation experiments carried out by Air Force Weapons Laboratory. 1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1963 x x Open literature calls for EMP hardening of military systems begin to appear 1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1962 x US nuclear starfish test: Starfish test, using a 1.4 MT device at 400 km altitude, produced EMP effects on Hawaii, 1400 km (800 nautical miles) away.  1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1962 x FISHBOWL high-altitude tests; EMP measurements driven off scale; first indications of the magnitude of the high-altitude EMP signal 1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1958 x Joint British/U.S. meetings begin discussions of system EMP vulnerability and hardness issues. 1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1958 x x Kompaneets (USSR) publishes open literature paper on EMP from atomic explosion 1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1952 x x First British atomic tests; instrumentation failures attributed to “radio flash”. 1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1951 x First deliberate EMP observations made by Shuster, Cowan, and Reines. 1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1945 x TRINITY EVENT; electronic equipment shielded, reportedly because of Fermi's expectations of EM signals (from collapse of the geoelectric field) from a nuclear burst.  1 E1HEMP report, from Daniel F. Higgins and Conrad L. Longmire, “Input to the EMP Interaction Handbook”, MRC-R-345, September 1977 http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1940 24-Mar-1940 x x 1940 Geomagnetic Storm.  First reported power system problems associated with a geomagnetic storm. 33 John Kappenman, "Geomagnetic Storms and their Impacts on the U.S. Power Grid", Metatech Corp for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2010, page 3-5, accessed 25 January 2014, http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-319.pdf http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-319.pdf Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1921 x x 1921 Geomagnetic storm. 19th century technology was still plentiful. Quote regarding event: "If the solar storm of 1921, which has been termed a one-in-100-year event, were to occur today, well over 300 extra-high-voltage transformers could be damaged or destroyed, thereby interrupting power to 130 million people for a period of years," Joseph McClelland, director of the Office of Electric Reliability at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said at a May 31 House Energy subcommittee hearing on the issue. Storm was 10 times stronger than the 1989 Storm. Carrington Event was likely 50 times stronger than 1921 event.
(33) Anecdotal reports of the storm indicate (from Karsberg, et al., 1959) that induced currents caused fires in telegraph equipment in Sweden. On the other side of the Atlantic, the New York Times reported in a May 15, 1921 article on a 14 May 1921 storm: “The voltage on some of the wires leading out of the city [New York] would be 150 degrees positive in one instant and in the next would have gone down to zero and on to 150 degrees negative. This fluctuation caused the wire to go up and down, in and out of service”.		 32, 33 Peter Behr and ClimateWire, "Solar Flare This Week Illuminated Power Grid's Vulnerability", Scientific American, June 9, 2011, accessed January 25, 2014, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-flare-this-week-illluminated-power-grid-vulnerability/
(33) John Kappenman, "Geomagnetic Storms and their Impacts on the U.S. Power Grid", Metatech Corp for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2010, page 3-5, accessed 25 January 2014, http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-319.pdf		 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-flare-this-week-illluminated-power-grid-vulnerability/
(33) http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-319.pdf		 Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1859 2 Sep 1859 x x "Carrington Event". Major geomagnetic storm.  Auroras seen in Florida and Canada.  Telegraphs operated without batteries using electricity in the air. Commentary: no dependency upon an electrical grid, since a power grid did not exist.  people could get on their horse and go to a nearby farm or general store to buy locally-produced food.  They could get water from their nearby hand-pumped well or from a nearby stream.  They could dispose of sewage in their backyard outhouse. 2 A Super Solar Flare - NASA Science http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)
1859 1 Sep 1859 x 11:18 am-11:23 am - Richard Carrington—widely acknowledged to be one of England's foremost solar astronomers sees white-light solar flare—a magnetic explosion on the sun.  5 min total. (NASA science news 2011).  Ice core statistics suggest that Carrington flares are once in a half-millennium events. The statistics are far from solid, however 2 A Super Solar Flare - NASA Science http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/ Stephen Purdy (@stephenater)