Digital Winter (12 page)

“I've been thinking about 2007,” Holt said as he stared over the rows of workstations, each with several glowing monitors.

Jeremy needed no additional references. He was a major at the time, running security checks on Air Force computers. The event was little known, mostly because the DHS had requested it be kept secret. That year, Department of Energy researchers tested the vulnerability of the grid by mounting its own attack. It succeeded in bringing down a power generator. More specifically, it made the generator self-destruct.

Not good news. Still, that had been a small “success.” Something like this was too large, too far beyond current technology, wasn't it? Then again…who was he kidding? That was the kind of thought one voiced to a senate subcommittee.

“I lost track of you.” Senator O'Tool approached. He had gone off to the restroom. Jeremy and the general used the time to talk out of his presence. “What have you learned?”

“In the time since you went to the bathroom?” Holt said, “Not much.”

“I must admit, I'm surprised you don't have a handle on this.”

Holt turned to the senator and for a moment, Jeremy was sure a fist would precede the response. Instead Holt cocked his head. “I'll admit that I'm a little surprised myself.”

“So you never planned for this kind of thing?”

“Again, Senator, USCYBERCOM deals with attacks on military and government computers. DHS handles the civil stuff.”

“They seem to be off their game.”

“It's a different world, Senator,” Jeremy said without looking at the man. “Our country has been moving to a smart grid system, a system based on computers that control operations and communicate with each other. The technology is brilliant, and the move makes sense in so many ways.”

“But…?”

“But every advance in technology brings new exposure to attack. We have the most robust security system in the world. Even so, it is a fragile thing.”

“So you just sit around and wait to see what happens?”

Jeremy was a patient man, but O'Tool was working his last nerve. “No, Senator. There are hundreds of people working on the problem. We're verifying the safety of the military net and heading off any additional attacks. DHS is doing their part. Private security companies are weighing in. The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team is active. More is being done than can be seen. There's one good thing about the power outage. No DoS or DDoS.”

O'Tool blinked as if Jeremy had just started speaking Swahili.

“Denial of service attack, Senator. You've heard of it?”

“Of course. What's your point?”

“A denial of service attack is fairly common in cyberspace. One form of DoS is called DDoS—distributed denial of service. A virus infects thousands of computers, making them slaves that operate without the owners' knowledge. There are several methods of attack, but basically the attack tries to overpower a server with too much traffic, too much information. The target system is overrun with more data than it can handle.”

“Drinking from a fire hose,” O'Tool said.

“Yes. Such attacks take place around the world. Targets have included Google, PayPal, MasterCard, banks, and government offices. It can bring a whole system down quickly. Most companies and governments have procedures in place to deal with DDoS attacks.”

“But that's not the problem here,” Holt added. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” O'Tool looked like an art major in a calculus class.

“Unless the attack comes from outside our country. North Korea. China, Iran.”

“Seems a stretch.”

Holt turned to O'Tool. “Has it not occurred to you that we might be at war?”

The words seemed to shake O'Tool.

“Until we know different, Senator, I'm treating this like a digital Pearl Harbor.” Holt inhaled deeply. He looked older and grayer than when this day started. “You'll have to excuse us, Senator. The colonel and I have another videoconference with the president.”

“I would like to attend that.”

“I'm sure you would,” Holt said as he turned and strode away.

Jeremy followed on his heels. He heard Senator O'Tool curse.

Secretary Monica McKie sat in the DHS teleconference room, not wanting to waste time driving from Nebraska Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue. With her was Dr. Tasha Young, head of US-CERT, the DHS arm dealing with cyber security. Tasha looked ten years younger than her forty-two years, and her blue eyes sparkled with intelligence. Very few people in the world intimidated Monica. She had always prided herself on her intelligence and wit, but when she was with Tasha she felt just a short step up from ignorant even though Tasha never paraded her intelligence. The five-feet-eight, raven-haired MIT standout had every right to do so. Soft-spoken, the computer science expert was also a musical prodigy. Monica had never been able to understand why mathematicians and computer specialists were often blessed with such musical skill. The only thing Monica could play was the radio.

They entered the telecon room and waited for the large monitor to come to life.

“Ready?” Monica asked.

“No, ma'am. Not in the least.” Tasha's voice had an Asian lilt to it, something Monica attributed to the woman's Japanese grandfather. Tasha would never be confused with an Asian, especially with her blue eyes, but those in the know could see a hint of the ancestry around her eyes and nose and in her dark hair.

“You know you're undermining my confidence.”

“Sorry, ma'am.” The corners of her mouth inched up before morphing back to the concerned straight line it had been a moment before.

A chirp indicated that one of the encrypted STU-III/CT phones had come to life. Monica checked hers and felt a moment of guilty relief to see it was still dormant. Tasha raised her unit to her ear.

The STU-III/CT was a secure, encrypted phone that operated on a shadow cell system used only by the government. The secure system piggybacked on the public cell system and received priority incoming calls. It was the only way a call could be made over a flooded system.

“Dr. Young.” She listened. A moment later, her olive skin paled. “I see. Keep me posted, and I want as much info as possible.” She fell silent for a moment. “No, the secretary is with me. I'll let her know.” She ended the call.

“More bad news?” Monica asked.

“Yes. Big-time.” She started to speak again, but the videoconference monitor suddenly filled the room. A roomful of faces looked at them.

Monica took the initiative. “Mr. President, I think there's been a development.”

“You
think
there's been a development?” The president's voice poured into the room from overhead speakers.

The image split, and the faces of General Holt and Colonel Matisse appeared alongside the image of the White House situation room.

“Yes, sir. Dr. Young just now received a call and she was about to fill me in.”

“Well, she might as well fill us all in.” The president shifted in his chair.

Tasha sat, setting her laptop on the table in front of her. “Yes, sir. Mr. President, there seems to be a problem at the Hoover Dam power station.” She paused. “A big problem.”

Jeremy couldn't believe the words coming over the videocon. He did what military men are trained to do: stuff emotion and focus on the task at hand.

“The generators are running out of control,” Tasha said.

Jeremy knew all the key players in cyber security, and Tasha Young was the discipline's equivalent of a rock star—pretty, knowledgeable, dedicated, and able to think faster than the computers she monitored.

“Exactly what does that mean?” Barlow narrowed his eyes.

“Sir, the US Bureau of Reclamation runs the power station at Hoover Dam. They're reporting that their turbines are—well, they're running out of control. All seventeen of them.” Tasha glanced at her boss and then back to the camera in the monitor. Jeremy could see the entire room from the USCYBERCOM communications room. He stole a glance at General Holt. The color had drained from the man's face.

“How can that be?” Barlow's voice remained low but the words carried sharp edges.

“Like all power generators in the country, they're running on the power they produce. They're on the front end of the grid and don't depend on power coming in. That means their computers are still powered.”

“The ones that run the turbines?” Barlow asked.

“Yes, sir. Well, all of the computers, just like ours, except we don't produce our own power like they do. We're running on backup generators…Okay, I'm telling you what you already know. Here's the concern: Whatever has affected the power grid has another level. Maybe more.”

“Stuxnet.” General Holt mumbled the word.

“What's that, General?” the president said. “We didn't get that over here.”

“Sorry, sir. I made a reference to the Stuxnet worm of 2010.”

“The one against Iran? You see a connection?”

“Too early to tell, but it sounds like the same kind of attack.”

Jeremy's mind ran to the most sophisticated and effective cyber attack to date. A complicated worm was unleashed into the wild. Unlike most computer worms and viruses, Stuxnet was a large bit of code with a mission: to find a specific type of PLC, or programmable logic controller. More and more PLCs were controlling such devices as assembly-line robots and even doors to prison cells. They were efficient and untiring. They are essentially computers, so they are vulnerable to hacking. Stuxnet targeted centrifuges made by Siemens, a German conglomerate. The centrifuges were used to make high-grade uranium. The worm circulated through the Internet, searching for just the right target.

It eventually reached the refining center in Iran's growing nuclear program in Natanz. The nuclear enrichment process used centrifuges to increase the amount of usable uranium. Stuxnet entered the system in June of 2009 and began sending Iranian centrifuges out of control, damaging many of the estimated 2000 such devices in Natanz.

“You're saying that the power generating plant at Hoover Dam was targeted?” Frank Grundy asked.

Holt nodded. “It appears so.”

Israel was the primary target of blame for Stuxnet. Indeed, the code contained what some interpreted as a reference to Queen Esther, whose action saved the lives of countless Jews from Persian leaders 500 years before Christ. The reference might not be what it seemed, but it was enough to set accusations in motion.

The United States was also a target in the blame game. Some believed that Israeli and US operatives designed, coded, and released the malware.

What made Stuxnet so unique was its target. Instead of infecting the computers it used to move along the Internet, it simply multiplied itself and moved on until it found the centrifuges. And not just any centrifuges. No other uranium enrichment facilities were affected. The program was looking for specific centrifuges made by Siemens and operating in Iran.

“Mr. President,” Holt said, “we've known for a long time that the US would be targeted for such an attack sooner or later.”