Chinese Hackers Linked To Blackouts In South Florida, Northeast

May 31, 2008 12:21 a.m. EST

San Francisco, CA (AHN) - Cyber security experts suspect that Chinese hackers, including those from the military, were responsible for blackouts in South Florida in February and in the Northeast in 2003.

Former Cyber Security Industry Alliance president Tim Bennett claims the People's Liberation Army (PLA) tapped into the computer network of utility firms serving the northeastern U.S., based on revelations by U.S. intelligence officials to him. The breach caused the blackout in Michigan, Ohio, New York, and parts of Canada that affected 50 million people.

Authorities at the time attributed the blackout to the snapping of power lines near facilities in Ohio owned by FirstEnergy Corp. The government still has not officially linked the PLA to the incident.

For the Florida blackout that affected three million people, Bennett told the National Journal that a computer security expert learned from investigators that a Chinese PLA hacker was mapping Florida Power & Light's computer infrastructure when the intruder made a mistake that shut down much of Florida's power grid.

The power firm blamed the blackout to a mistake made by an engineer, though the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is still investigating the cause of the power outage.