At present, ISIS hackers lack the tools and expertise to do so
terrorists are trying, but failing miserably, to hack U.S. power companies in hopes of shutting down service to American cities and businesses, CBS 6 reports.
The news comes from John Riggi, head of the FBI's cyber division, speaking at GridSecCon, a conference for American electric companies that took place in Philadelphia on October 13-16.
The reason ISIS hackers failed is their low technical skills , but the FBI warns that this can easily be compensated for by purchasing the necessary tools on the black market.
Despite this, the FBI is not sounding the alarm yet, mainly because even if hackers manage to penetrate the US power grid and cause damage, they will not be able to affect more than a single city block or town.
This is because the US power grid is made up of hundreds of electricity companies, each with its own network and internal structure, making it very difficult to transfer a security flaw from one company to another.
Regardless, a more powerful attack is very close, and just as with the 9/11 attacks, the terrorists will aim to drive the US population into a panic, rather than inflicting damage to the entire country's power grid.
For now, the FBI and other agencies that monitor US cyberspace are more concerned about the state of hacking groups, especially those funded by the Kremlin.
