Pitt Prof. Dubs Energy Grid Hack Minor

On Wednesday, reports of cyberspying on the nation's energy grid gave many cause for concern. However, since then no terribly unusual blackouts or power problems have occurred. Pitt's Gregory Reed, a professor of electrical engineering, says this is because the hackers most likely did not find enough data to cause any harm to the system. "From what you can surmise based on the information that was provided, they may have been able to gain enough information to look at perhaps what our energy system looks like from a very basic point of view, but to be quite honest you don't have to hack into a computer network to determine that," says Reed. He has a warning, however, about the use of such an open system as the "smart grids" that are a priority of the Obama administration. Says Reed, "Smart grid technologies enable more access for more people to the grid for very good reasons: so that we can gain greater efficiencies and operate our energy system in a more economical manner. However, it can expose us to more entry points, and that's what we really have to be careful of." Reed says there is little the United States can do about the situation besides determining how much was hacked and remaining vigilant in case of future attacks.