Computer virus in Australian power grid
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the infection has forced Integral Energy to rebuild all 1,000 of its desktop computers before the "particularly sinister" computer virus spreads further.
A Integral Energy spokesman told journalists that the company had called in external information security experts to "rebuild all desktop computers to contain and remove the virus," adding that the malware had not affected power supplies to customers or business data and was "contained within Integral Energy's information technology network."
Hacklabs security consultant Chris Gatford commented, "The risk of having a virus in this type of environment is it might affect the operation of the power grid if the virus was to infiltrate the process control network. I think they're to be commended for this extreme reaction when dealing with something that could potentially affect the supply of energy."
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Why Fort Frances wants to build an integrated microgrid to deliver its electricity
TORONTO - When the power goes out in Fort Frances, Ont., the community may be left in the dark for hours.
The hydro system's unreliability — caused by its location on the provincial power grid — has prompted the town to seek a creative solution: its own self-contained electricity grid with its own source of power, known as a microgrid.
Located more than 340 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ont., on the border of Minnesota, Fort Frances gets its power from a single supply point on Ontario's grid.
"Sometimes, it's inevitable that we have to have like a six- to eight-hour power outage…
