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Langevin warns of cyber attack against power grid

6:33 PM Thu, Sep 11, 2008 | Permalink
By John E. Mulligan, Washington bureau

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Rep. Jim Langevin today warned a House panel that the nation's electrical power system is vulnerable to attack through computers.

Langevin, chairman of a subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee, told colleagues on another panel that legislation is needed "to protect the grid against cyber security threats," according to his office.

"I believe America is disturbingly vulnerable to a cyber attack against the electric grid that could cause significant consequences to our nation's critical infrastructure,'' Langevin said. "Virtually every expert that I've discussed these matters with - across government and throughout the private sector - shares this assessment."

Langevin's warning came on the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, when terrorists hijacked and crashed airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.