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List:       isn
Subject:    [ISN] Ted Koppel Writes Entire Book About How Hackers Will Take Down Our Electric Grid... And Never 
From:       InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews ! org>
Date:       2015-11-20 13:32:55
Message-ID: alpine.DEB.2.02.1511201332410.32559 () infosecnews ! org
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https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151117/07350332835/ted-koppel-writes-entire-book-about-how-hackers-will-take-down-our-electric-grid-never-spoke-to-any-experts.shtml

By Mike Masnick
Techdirt.com
Nov 19th 2015

Famous TV news talking head Ted Koppel recently came out with a new book 
called Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the 
Aftermath. The premise, as you may have guessed, is that we're facing a 
huge risk that "cyberattackers" are going to take down the electric grid, 
and will be able to take it down for many weeks or months, and the US 
government isn't remotely prepared for it. Here's how Amazon describes the 
book:

   Investigative reporting that reads like fiction - or maybe I just wish
   it was fiction. In Lights Out, Ted Koppel flashes his journalism chops
   to introduce us to a frightening scenario, where hackers have tapped
   into and destroyed the United States power grids, leaving Americans
   crippled. Koppel outlines the many ways our government and response
   teams are far from prepared for an un-natural disaster that won't just
   last days or weeks - but months - and also shows us how a growing number
   of individuals have taken it upon themselves to prepare. Whether you
   pick up this book to escape into a good story, or for a potentially
   potent look into the future, you will not be disappointed.

The book also has quotes ("blurbs" as they're called) from lots of famous 
people -- nearly all of whom are also famous TV news talking heads or DC 
insiders who have a long history of hyping up "cyber" threats. But what's 
not on the list? Anyone with any actual knowledge or experience in actual 
computer security, especially as it pertains to electric grids.

Want to know how useful the book actually is? All you really need to read 
is the following question and answer from an interview Koppel did with CSO 
Online:

Did you interview penetration testers who have experience in the electric 
generation/transmission sector for this book?

No, I did not.

[...]



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