April 15, 2009
The Green IT Perspective
By Preston Gralla
I’ve written frequently about the dangers that the Smart Grid and Green IT in general pose for enterprise security. Now those warnings have hit the headlines everywhere, with claims by the U.S. intelligence community last week that Chinese and Russian hackers have attacked our power grid, planting malware that can be used to shut down the grid.
Very scary, indeed. But is it true? Not necessarily. As I write in my blog, “Was the Chinese-Russian Power Grid Hack a Hoax?” at least one well-known security expert — in fact, a former “black hat” hacker — believes that it might not have happened. He argues that intelligence officials leaked the information because they’re locked in political infighting with the Department of Homeland Security over who will be in charge of cybersecurity. It’s not clear at this point what’s true and what isn’t, by my blog has all the details.
If you’re looking for more information about power grid dangers and the potential security dangers of Green IT in general, check out my earlier blogs, “CIA: Hackers have already attacked the electric grid,” “Beware: Smart Grid May Be Hacker’s Paradise,” “Beware: Green IT Has a Dark Side,” and “Warning: More Security Dangers of Green IT.”
Also this week, we’ve got some very solid, practical, hands-on advice about how to measure power in your data center. In “The Whys and Hows of Measuring Power in your Data Center,” Herman Chan and Greg More of Raritan give simple-to-follow yet detailed instructions on how to monitor and measure your power use. They’ve got a clear explanation of how to calculate the metrics involved, as well as real-world advice about issues such as where and how to take measurements, what you can do with the data you gather, and more. Anyone who wants to increase the power efficiency of their data center — which means all of us — would do well to give it a read.
Lastly, we want to alert all our readers to our ongoing Steelcase Sustainable Design Scholarships — four full scholarships to our 2009 Greener by Design conference, including airfare and hotel, in partnership with Net Impact.
There’s still time to enter, and the process is easy — submit a short essay by way of GreenBiz.com or NetImpact.org, and spread the word to others you know who may be interested. And thanks to our friends at Steelcase, the global manufacturer of office furnishings, for making this possible.
Apply here: http://greenercomputing.com/steelcasescholarships09.
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