U.S. International Trade Commission data shows that at least 200 large transformers made in China are currently entering the U.S. power grid. Do these transformers pose a threat to U.S. national security?
Chinese Communist Party and Other Countries Try to Hack U.S. Power Systems
According to controlglobal.com, Joseph M. Weiss, a U.S. cybersecurity expert on control systems, wrote, “It is clear that the Chinese Communist Party, Russia, North Korea, Iran and other countries have been actively trying to hack into the U.S. power grid, other critical facilities, and the control system supply chain for years. There are recognized supply chain problems with U.S.-made critical infrastructure equipment because they are often used in conjunction with computer chips or software made in China.”
He said the Chinese Communist Party attempted to hack into the U.S. power grid system in 2001; Chinese and Russian Hackers had hacked into the supply chain of U.S. control system suppliers from 2010-2012.
Weiss said the CCP has simulated how to attack the Chinese power grid within China, “I attended an international power engineering conference where the chief engineer of the Chinese power grid [described] how their supply chain was attacked within China!”
“Remote access to protective relays that could lead to an ‘Aurora’ Cyber Attack event that could damage transformers and AC rotating equipment, such as generators and motors connected to that substation.”
“The Chinese Communist Party installed hardware backdoors, which could have led to the ‘Aurora’ cyberattack, or other types of compromise.” He said.
On Jan. 29, 2019, Director of National Intelligence Daniel R. Coats said, “The Chinese Communist Party poses an ongoing cyber espionage threat and a growing threat of attacks on our core U.S. military and critical infrastructure systems. The Chinese Communist Party remains the most active strategic competitor in cyber espionage against the U.S. government, businesses and allies.”
U.S. Electricity System Vulnerable
Multiple reports indicate vulnerabilities in the U.S. power system.
On January 10, 2019, The Wall Street Journal published an article stating, “Vulnerable Backdoor Exists in U.S. Power Grid – and the Russians Crossed It.”
On March 23, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps hacked numerous agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is responsible for the security of the U.S. high-powered electricity system.
The Chinese Communist Party’s “Security Insider” website reported a number of cyber hacking attacks on the U.S. electric power system, such as
In August 2006, a cyber attack on Unit 3 of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Alabama resulted in the failure of the reactor recirculation pump and condensate demineralization controller, forcing the shutdown of Unit 3.
In January 2003, the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ohio and other power facilities were attacked by the SQL Slammer (also known as “Sapphire”) worm, which slowed the plant’s computer processing and prevented the safety parameter display system and process control computer from functioning properly for five hours. The worm caused the plant’s computers to slow down and prevent the safety parameter display system and process control computers from functioning for five hours.
The hack was discovered on May 11, 2001, when hackers compromised the independent operator that oversees most of California’s electricity transmission system. cal ISO officials said the security breach had been fixed and the grid was not threatened. However, according to people with inside knowledge, the hackers were very close to gaining access to critical parts of the control system, and once inside the core controls, could have disrupted the entire California grid. An internal investigation report after the fact showed that the attack first began on April 25 and was not discovered until May 11.
Experts: U.S. Power System Cannot Contain Hostile Chinese Communist Equipment
Frank Gaffney, founder and executive chairman of the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C., think tank, told the Epoch Times, “How likely is it that there are backdoors in our electricity system? What is the likelihood of a back door?” “Can the CCP perform shutdown operations or destructive operations remotely? I don’t know.”
“But, based on knowledge of the equipment they (CCP) provide to us, especially telecommunications communications sector equipment and equipment such as computers. You have to assume that such vulnerabilities have been transferred to transformers and other equipment in our grid as a result of the CCP’s supply.”
“I don’t know if the transformers were produced by huawei or by a company associated with the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.”
Gaffney said that crippling the U.S. power grid is “part of the over-the-top warfare” against the United States by the Chinese Communist Party and its military.
“It’s imperative that our medical system or our electrical system not have hostile equipment in it.”
Gaffney is also the former acting assistant secretary of defense and current vice chairman of the Committee to Address the Current Danger to the Chinese Communist Party (CPDC). Some U.S. experts share Gaffney’s concerns about the security threat to the U.S. power grid posed by Chinese communist telecommunications equipment, such as Huawei.
In late 2020, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sought public comment on a number of equipment vendors that could pose a potential threat to the security of the U.S. electric grid, specifically mentioning Chinese telecommunications equipment companies such as Huawei and ZTE (0763).
U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien (Robert O’brien) has said, “We have evidence that Huawei has the ability to secretly access sensitive information and personal information in the network equipment systems it maintains and sells around the world.”
Installation of Chinese-made transformers affects U.S. power grid
On May 1, 2020, former President Trump announced increased protection of the U.S. power grid and signed an executive order (Presidential Executive Order 13920) banning the import and use of equipment that poses a national security threat to U.S. power plants and transmission systems.
In December 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy issued an injunction prohibiting the procurement, importation, transfer or installation of high-capacity electric system equipment from China. The injunction became effective on January 16, 2021.
However, on Jan. 20, 2021, President Biden signed 17 executive orders on his first day in office, including a revocation of former President Trump’s order banning the import and use of foreign equipment that poses a national security threat to the U.S. electric system.
controlglobal.com reported on Feb. 8, 2021, that Joseph M. Weiss, a cybersecurity expert on U.S. control systems, agreed with the executive orders signed by former President Trump. Presidential Executive Order 13920, he said, was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but was prompted by the discovery of the ShockNet virus (Stuxnet) on a Chinese-made transformer installed at a U.S. facility.
“The Chinese Communist Party installed enough hardware backdoors to scare the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), so much so that they intercepted a large Chinese transformer imported into the U.S. and shipped it to Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).”
Weiss further stated that “more than two hundred Chinese-made transformers already operating in the United States could have had backdoors installed.”
“The installation of Chinese-made transformers now will have an impact on the U.S. power grid.”
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