I recently purchased a copy of the latest sequel in the Die Hard series. The main plot involves a massive cyber attack on the US infrastructure. Despite all the outlandish things that only happen in Hollywood movies, I was pleased that at least the hacker character in the movie acknowledged that major utilities operated on closed circuit systems, not connected to the Internet, so hackers could only get in so far but couldn't get in far enough to really do damage. That's always been a comforting thought, right? I mean, I always thought that the "air gap" was always a bedrock of electronic security in critical systems.

Well, I guess the closed circuit nature of utilities is now a myth, too. The Wall Street Journal published a story about this and found that software has been planted through many utilities across the country that could be used to disrupt service.

Not feeling any urge to drum up any conspiracy theories or point fingers at anyone. (Thanks, Martin, I'm feeling much better after removing my tin foil hat after reading your post. Who knew?). But now I won't be so surprised if I ever wake up one day and feel like I'm in that movie.