Aurora Test Footage
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN cites it as proof that cyberattacks can physically destroy power grid equipment.
What it is
Footage of the 2007 Aurora test, in which a cyberattack was used to destroy a large generator at a test facility in Idaho.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2021 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Cites wahern · 2021-02 · on “What’s interesting about the Florida water system hack is that we heard about it”
> would be possible only because some modern equipment is used and connected to the network [...] containing the sync-checks "How 30 Lines of Code Blew Up a 27-Ton Generator: A secret experiment in 2007 proved that hackers could devastate power grid equipment beyond repair—with a file no bigger than a gif": [LINK] YouTube video of demonstration: [this video]
Cites 01HNNWZ0MV43FF · 2024-03 · on “The Telechron master station clock was used to maintain power grid frequency”
Someone tested such a thing on a pretty big generator: [this video] [LINK] > Black chunks began to fly out of an access panel on the generator, which the researchers had left open to watch its internals. Inside, the black rubber grommet that linked the two halves of the generator’s shaft was tearing itself apart. This was a proof-of-concept for a cyber attack on power infrastructure. They sent it malware that inverted the grid sync behavior from "Sync up, then connect, and if you de-sync, disconnect" to "If you are synced, disconnect, if you are desynced, reconnect" The Wired article is an advert for a book filled with pretty fluffy prose - At times reading like a romance novel...
Cites shagie · 2024-08 · on “The gigantic and unregulated power plants in the cloud”
> It’s also possible that the manufacturer gets hacked, and subsequently sends out attacker controlled and wrong software updates to the inverters, with possibly dire consequences. Idaho National Lab is one of those places that researches this. [LINK] - their domains are energy (primarily nuclear and integrated) and national security ... and securing the grid is the intersection of that. And some time back... [LINK] ( [LINK] ) . The story is from 2020. The event is from 2007. The test footage linked in the article is on YouTube - [this video] The wikipedia article on the test: [LINK] From the wired article the key part of how it broke: > A protective relay attached to that generator was designed