Civil War Wednesday?

[Alvertsky]

I am a little puzzled why anyone thinks that millions of power grids across the U.S. are suddenly going to fail all at once. Pretty sure there's no disgruntled group out there big enough to cause such havoc.

The deep state could do that to deliberately cause panic

 

[UnrulyBeauty]

The deep state could do that to deliberately cause panic

Can you please define exactly who and what you consider to be "the deep state" and then outline just how they would shut down electricity for the whole nation?

 

[Alvertsky]

Can you please define exactly who and what you consider to be "the deep state" and then outline just how they would shut down electricity for the whole nation?

LOL if I told you a year ago that all churches and the American economy would be shut down and all people would be forced to stay 6 feet from each other and that restaurants would be closed you would say I was nuts like you just did. The fact is that if they can eliminate the constitutional right to religion, they can do anything.

However it is happening and you are ignoring the facts

 

[Dcopymope]

I been hearing talk lately to stock up for two weeks because there will be a war breaking out by Wednesday. I saw it a few different places, what say you all.

I ain't worried about it. It ain't got nothing to do with me and my people anyway. This is an affair between the palm coloreds. And if things do pop off, GOOD. Let the daughter of Babylon tear itself apart.

 

[UnrulyBeauty]

LOL if I told you a year ago that all churches and the American economy would be shut down and all people would be forced to stay 6 feet from each other and that restaurants would be closed you would say I was nuts like you just did. The fact is that if they can eliminate the constitutional right to religion, they can do anything.

However it is happening and you are ignoring the facts

Why are you accusing me of "ignoring the facts"? What facts am I ignoring, by simply asking questions?

Where did I say you were "nuts"?

 

[Mayflower]

I did buy a handcrank/solar powered radio/flashlight/charger. Not because I'm scared, but it's just wise to have one around the house And a first aid kit, for the same reasons. I suppose all this fear-mongering is at least a good reminder to make sure you have some basic necessities on hand.

Exactly. Gives a little peace of mind. I went ahead and got all the wic baby food on the card when that came in (there was a lot in the store, so it wasnt like toilet paper). Just to make sure the babies would get fed if marshall law came into place. It is just uncharted territory, so feel a bit more sound this way. But God is our soundness and peace. No matter what happens, have peace of mind. God will never, never, never forsake us.

 

[UnrulyBeauty]

Exactly. Gives a little peace of mind. I went ahead and got all the wic baby food on the card when that came in (there was a lot in the store, so it wasnt like toilet paper). Just to make sure the babies would get fed if marshall law came into place. It is just uncharted territory, so feel a bit more sound this way. But God is our soundness and peace. No matter what happens, have peace of mind. God will never, never, never forsake us.

Yes, I got a big pack of TP today lol. The shelves are still a bit bare at times, and that's the last thing you want to run out of!

 

[Mayflower]

Can you please define exactly who and what you consider to be "the deep state" and then outline just how they would shut down electricity for the whole nation?

I guess you have a point. XD Bless you.

I am a mom and I am just walking in freedom from anxiety (been about a month off my medicine for it). Irrational fears are definitely a good thing to combat. But anything is a possibility in this day and age, and Im more concerned with the kids then anything else.

For the radio, Im thinking more for winter storms (though this came from this situation), but a media blackout just seems like a possibility too for some reason.

(I know you were addressing someone else)

 

[Mayflower]

Yes, I got a big pack of TP today lol. The shelves are still a bit bare at times, and that's the last thing you want to run out of!

Lol. Wet wipes are more what Im concerned about. Try to change a baby butt with toilet paper. Lol

 

[Alvertsky]

Why are you accusing me of "ignoring the facts"? What facts am I ignoring, by simply asking questions?

Where did I say you were "nuts"?

Churches are closed, businesses are shut down, it used to be illegal to wear a mask into a bank now the mask is the law. All of this and a lot more is all factual and many just do not see the implications. Churches and singing are no longer allowed.

 

[UnrulyBeauty]

Churches are closed, businesses are shut down, it used to be illegal to wear a mask into a bank now the mask is the law. All of this and a lot more is all factual and many just do not see the implications. Churches and singing are no longer allowed.

You didn't answer either of my questions

Nowhere did I "ignore" that churches are closed, businesses are shut down, masks are required.

 

[Alvertsky]

I am a little puzzled why anyone thinks that millions of power grids across the U.S. are suddenly going to fail all at once. Pretty sure there's no disgruntled group out there big enough to cause such havoc.

Not sure at all since the USA has only three main power grids in the first place, not millions. If you need more there is plenty, just ask

The U.S. power grid has been supplying countless people with power since its initial installation in the 20th century. The three main interconnections, or grids, that make up the entire power grid for the Lower 48 states of the U.S. are:

• The Eastern Grid: Covers the area from the east coast to just east of the Rocky Mountains. Parts of northern Texas are also covered by this grid.
• The Western Grid: This grid covers the area starting with the Rocky Mountains and continuing outwards to the west coast.
• The ERCOT Grid: The ERCOT, or Electric Reliability Council of Texas, grid covers almost the entire state of Texas.

With issues like outdated, failing infrastructure and hackers with the potential to cause outages, the U.S. power grid is becoming more prone to issues and outages across the country. Extreme weather and superstorms regularly cause outages that can be costly both to repair and for facilities that rely on power for mission-critical functions. The vulnerability of the U.S. power grid is a major reason why many business and home owners choose to install backup generators to keep essential functions running even when the power grid malfunctions. Many communities are also opting to install microgrids for an alternate power source. Microgrids can generate power via renewable sources such as solar panels or wind turbines, making them a more environmentally friendly and responsible option as well as good protection against power failure from the country’s major power grid.

How Power Grid Hacks Work, and When You Should Panic | WIRED

IN 2017, IT can sometimes seem like power grids are practically crawling with digital intruders. Over just the past four months, news has emerged that Russian hackers penetrated a nuclear power plant, that the same group may have had hands-on access to an American energy utility's control systems, that another group of Kremlin hackers used a new form of automated malware to induce a power outage in Ukraine—and now, this week, that North Korean hackers breached an American energy utility. Reading those headlines, you'd be forgiven for thinking that hacker-induced blackouts were a near-weekly occurrence, not a twice-ever-in-history event.

But as real as the threat of power-utility hacking may be, not every grid penetration calls for Defcon 1. Responding to them all with an equal sense of alarm is like conflating a street mugging with an intercontinental ballistic missile attack. What's publicly referred to as a "breach" of an energy utility could range from something barely more sophisticated than a typical malware infection to a nation-state-funded moonshot months or years in the making. Those incidents could also have vastly different consequences, from mere data theft to a potentially catastrophic infrastructure failure.

It's true that the last several years have seen a "stark spike" in hacking attempts on industrial control systems like power utilities, water, and manufacturing, says Rob Lee, a former NSA analyst who now runs the critical-infrastructure-focused security firm Dragos, Inc. But Lee says it's crucial to keep a sense of proportion: Of the hundreds of well-funded hacker groups that Dragos tracks globally, Lee says that roughly 50 have targeted companies with industrial control systems. Of those, Dragos has found only six or seven groups that have reached into companies' so-called "operations" network—the actual controls of physical infrastructure. And even among those cases, Lee says, only two such groups have been known to actually trigger real physical disruption: The Equation Group, believed to be the NSA team that used the Stuxnet malware to destroy Iranian nuclear enrichment centrifuges, and the Sandworm team behind the blackouts in Ukraine.

So when news arises that hackers have merely "penetrated" an energy utility—as North Korean hackers recently did—receive it with those numbers in mind, and not with the assumption that the next Stuxnet or Sandworm has dropped. "This is a world where people can die," Lee says. "If we come out and say it’s a big deal, it should be a big deal."



To that end, here's WIRED's guide to the different gradations of grid hacking, to help you dial in your panic to the appropriate level for the power-grid penetrations to come. And there will be more.

Step One: Network Breach
When government agencies or the press warn that hackers have compromised a power utility, in the vast majority of cases those intruders haven't penetrated the systems that control the flow of actual power, like circuit breakers, generators, and transformers. They're instead hacking into far more prosaic targets: corporate email accounts, browsers, and web servers.


Those penetrations, which typically start with spearphishing emails, or "watering hole" attacks that infect target users by hijacking a website they commonly visit, don't necessarily differ from traditional criminal or espionage-focused hacking. Most importantly, they don't generate the means of causing any physical damage or disruption. In some cases, the hackers may be performing reconnaissance for future attacks, but nonetheless don't get anywhere near the actual control systems that can tamper with electricity generation or transmission.

raised alarms when it revealed that North Korean hackers had targeted US energy facilities. A followup report from security news site Cyberscoop asserted that at least one of those attempts successfully penetrated a US utility. But a subsequent FireEye blog post indicated that its analysts had only found evidence that the hackers had sent a series of spearphishing emails to its intended victims—a fairly routine hacking operation that doesn't appear to have come close to any sensitive control systems

Step Two: Operational Access
Hackers poking around an energy firm's IT system should cause some concern. Hackers poking at operational technology systems, or what some security experts call OT, is a far more serious situation. When hackers penetrate OT, or gain so-called operational access, they've moved from the computer systems that exist in practically every modern corporation to the far more specialized and customized control systems for power equipment, a major step towards manipulating physical infrastructure.

In one recent hacking campaign, for instance, Symantec revealed that a group of hackers it named DragonFly 2.0—possibly the same Russian group reported earlier in the summer to have broken into a US nuclear facility—had gained operational access to a "handful" of US energy firms. The intruders had gone so far as to screenshot the so-called human-machine interfaces for power systems, likely so that they could study them, and prepare to start flipping actual switches to launch a full-on grid attack.

Step Three: Coordinated Attack
Even when intruders have "hands-on-the-switches" access to grid control systems, Lee says, using that access effectively is far harder than it might seem. In fact, he argues that all actions ahead of flipping that switch are just a preparatory stage that represents only about 20 percent of the hackers' work.

 

[aspen]

Yep. It's fine to talk about civil war on this board as long as you have chosen the right side

 

[WaterSong]

I think it's rubbish and an excuse for the media to get people all riled up and hysterical yet again, so they can slaver over their ratings and clicks and views for the next few days.

I do expect scattered skirmishes around DC. That's the worst of it. 99.9% of Americans will be going to work, taking care of their kids, and not having the time nor inclination to start or engage in any trouble.

Yes, like on January 6th when one could almost hear crickets for all the empty space due to folks going to work that day rather than protesting at the Capitol.

Military Pledges Proper Housing for Troops in DC as National Guard Force Grows to 25,000



Why Cell Networks Cut Out at the US Capitol Riot

 

[WaterSong]

When the power goes out all over the contiguous United States all hell will break loose.
Think of how dependent we are on electricity. People driving the Leaf will be terrified.
No prescription access because your information is stored on computer. No money, ATM's don't work. No gas, pumps don't work.
Living in the dark, save for candles, battery powered lamps, lamp oil fueled lights.

There was a movie many years ago that featured that very thing. Power grid for a huge area of a state was down. The people didn't now this wasn't world wide or national. After just a couple of days the violence started.

Yep. It's fine to talk about civil war on this board as long as you have chosen the right side

Well, that's the way it was during the American civil war. If people were in support of slavery and the other issues at the heart of it, they were on the wrong side of history.

Same with this. Only The Steal impacted everyone. Democrats and Republicans, because our free constitutional right to choose those empowered to lead our country and act on our behalf in the Legislature was corrupted.
Anyone that thinks that's perfectly OK, or worse, the fable there is no evidence supporting this, are definitely on the wrong side of history.
Treason and Sedition are felonies that threaten the future of every freedom loving American.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Yep. It's fine to talk about civil war on this board as long as you have chosen the right side

I wouldn't have had a problem with Blacks talking about Civil War, Aspen, at least not as far as their right as American citizens is concerned. What I had a problem with is the cowardly crap the BLM and Antifa people chose to do instead, from cold-cocking whites that just happened to be standing on the street and had their backs turned (and were likely there in support of the movement as well ) to burning down the businesses of people in their own communities just to make a point. That's not waging war like men, that's... pitiful.

At least the Black paramilitary group that showed up in our city in full battle gear back in October were serious. But most of the forum complaining about the stuff BLM and Antifa were doing was legitimate.

 

[April_Rose]

I still have yet to understand what exactly would make the power go out.

 

[aspen]

Well, I am definitely provoked now, so if you guys aren't banned for a month for your posts, my point is proven, right Iforrest? Oh, and I forgive you for banning me again - I know, you have to support your base

 

[April_Rose]

If you guys aren't banned for a month for your posts, my point is is proven, right forest?

Who are you talking about? What are we doing wrong?

 

[historyb]

I still have yet to understand what exactly would make the power go out.

Very good question seeing that the power grids are not one giant thing but individual power companies and many locally owned. Not to mention solar power many places that are not connected to any grid