Regardless of where you stand on the Snowden/NSA debate, it's obvious tonight's "60 Minutes" was a travesty of journalism. In exchange for exclusive access to the NSA, CBS parroted dubious NSA statements as fact. We can see this in the way they described what they call the "BIOS plot", which the claim would have destroyed the economy of the United States had the NSA not saved us. The NSA spokesperson they quote, Debra Plunkett, is a liar.
There is probably some real event behind this, but it's hard to tell, because we don't have any details. The event has been distorted to serve the needs of propaganda. It's completely false in the message it is trying to convey. What comes out is gibberish, as any technical person can confirm.
The discussion of the plot is at timestamp 3:33 in the video here http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-snowden-affair/, but below, I include a little mini transcript:
(Narration) "One [attack] they did see coming was called the 'BIOS plot'. It could've been catastrophic for the United States. While the NSA would not name the country behind it, cybersecurity experts briefed on the operation told us it was China. Debra Plunkett directs cyber defense for the NSA, and for the first time discusses the agency's role in discovering the plot."
Plunkett: "One of our analysts actually saw that a nation-state had the intention to develop and to deliver, to actually use this capability to destroy computers."
Reporter: "To destroy computers?"
Plunkett: "To destroy computers. So the BIOS is a basic input/output system. It's like the foundational component firmware of a computer. You start your computer up; the BIOS kicks in, it activates hardware, it activates the operating system. It turns on the computer."
Shows something called a BIOS, but which is actually a Serial ATA controller BIOS, not the motherboard's BIOS. LOL.
(Narration) "This is the BIOS system which starts most computers. The attack would've been disguised as a request for a software update. If the user agreed, the virus would've infected the computer."
Reporter: "So, this basically would've gone into the system that starts up the computer, runs the systems, tells it what to do,..."
Plunkett: "That's right."
Reporter: "...and basically turned it into a cinderblock?"
Plunkett: "A brick."
Reporter: "And, after that, there wouldn't be much that you could do with that computer?"
Plunkett: "That's right. Think about the impact of that across the entire globe. It could literally take down the US economy."
Reporter: "I don't mean to be flip about this, but it has kind of a little Doctor Evil quality to it, that 'I'm going to develop a program to destroy every computer in the world'. It sounds almost unbelievable."
Plunkett: "Don't be fooled. There are absolutely nation-states who have the capability and the intentions to do just that."
Reporter: "Based on what you've learned here at the NSA, would it have worked?"
Plunkett: "We believe it would have, yes."
Reporter: "Is this anything that has been talked about publicly before?"
Plunkett: "No, not to this extent. This is the first time."
(Narrator) "The NSA, working with computer manufacturers, was able to close this vulnerability. But they say there are other attacks occurring daily."