Cyber attacks on utilities, industries rise

U.S. utilities and other crucial industries face an increasing number of cyber break-ins by attackers using more sophisticated methods, a senior Homeland Security Department official told reporters while the first tour of the government's secretive defense labs intended to protect the nation's power grid, water and communications systems.

The world's utilities

Acting DHS Deputy Undersecretary Greg Schaffer told reporters Thursday at one of several nondescript buildings that house Control System Security Program facilities that the world's utilities and industries increasingly are becoming vulnerable as they wire their industrial machinery to the Internet.

"We are connecting equipment that has never been connected earlier to these global networks," Schaffer said. Disgruntled employees, hackers and like as not foreign governments "are knocking on the doors of these systems, and there have been intrusions."

The Obama administration has proposed making reporting mandatory, nevertheless the White House is likely to find the idea difficult to sell at a time when Republicans complain about increased regulation of business.

The U.S. and other nations believe Iran is building a nuclear-weapons program, nevertheless Tehran insists it is interested only in the peaceful uses of nuclear innovation.

Cyber warfare as well likely would target military-control systems, including for communications, radar and advanced weaponry.