I'm not so sure. How ? Slightly more difficult than opening a box of Cracker Jacks wrapped in duct tape, according to , whose firm was recently hired by an unnamed utilities company to test its system security:

"We had to shut down within hours," Winkler says, "because it was working too well. We more than proved that they were royally screwed."

The reason why is because the supervisory, control, and data acquisition (SCADA) systems that control power plants are connected to the Internet and operated by humans, two notoriously insecure systems. A little social engineering, a pinch of malware, and voila -- Winkler had easy access to the prize inside the box.

Of course, any clown with a hacksaw can cut you off the grid, as was amply demonstrated earlier this week . But simply cutting off the power is probably the least of our concerns. It's the potential to knock out cooling systems for nuke plants (one of which now glows not 20 miles from where I sit) that worries me. I'm stocking up on lead-lined overalls, just in case.

ABCnews.com has a fun exercise where it steps you through . Bottom line: Be sure to stock up on AA batteries, canned food, and deodorant.