electrical grid – Page 3 – WindowsTechs.com

Utah renewables company was hit by rare cyberattack in March

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Sean Lyngaas

A Utah-based renewable energy company was the victim of a rare cyberattack that temporarily disrupted communications with several solar and wind installations in March, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The attack left operators at the company, sPower, unable to communicate with a dozen generation sites for five-minute intervals over the course of several hours on March 5. It is believed to be the first cybersecurity incident on record that caused a “disruption” in the U.S. power industry, as defined by the Department of Energy. DOE defines a “cyber event” as a disruption to electrical or communication systems caused by unauthorized access to hardware, software or communications networks. Utilities have to promptly report any such incidents to DOE. The attack did not affect sPower’s more critical control systems and did not impact its power generation, the company said. But it nevertheless highlights how generic software vulnerabilities […]

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ICS Attackers Set To Inflict More Damage With Evolving Tactics

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Elizabeth Montalbano

While it remains difficult to attack critical infrastructure successfully, adversaries aim to use past experience to launch more destructive future attacks, according to analysis. Continue reading ICS Attackers Set To Inflict More Damage With Evolving Tactics→

What Will We Do with the Turbine Blades?

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Lewin Day

As the global climate emergency continues to loom over human civilization, feverish work is underway around the world to find technical and political solutions to the problem. Much has been gained in recent years, but as global emissions continue to increase, there remains much left to do to stave off …read more

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U.S. agrees to help Baltic states bolster grid cybersecurity

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Sean Lyngaas

The United States on Sunday agreed to work more closely with three Baltic countries to protect their electric sectors from cyberattacks. “We see a crucial role that U.S. could play in assisting the Baltic states with strategic and technical support,” reads the declaration from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and officials from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, according to multiple news outlets. The four countries will establish a platform for sharing cybersecurity expertise over the next six months, the AFP reported. The agreement is a recognition of the need to fortify energy infrastructure that could be a prime target for hackers in the event of geopolitical conflict. Russia’s neighbors are very familiar with that dynamic: Kremlin-linked hackers cut power in parts of Ukraine in 2015 and 2016. The U.S. announcement with Baltic states was short on specifics. Spokespeople for officials in all four governments did not respond to requests for comment. The document […]

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Mock grid, real threats: DARPA borrows an island for a cyberattack drill

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Sean Lyngaas

Over the last 120 years, Plum Island, a forbidding swath of sand off Long Island, has been at the edge of U.S national security. The island housed gun batteries during the Spanish-American War, a torpedo storage facility during the First World War, and in recent decades it has been the government’s home for studying animal-borne diseases. In the first week of November, the military found yet another way for Plum Island to serve as a guinea pig. This time, though, it was for a decidedly 21st-century threat: cyberattacks that could hamstring the power grid. The fictional scenario saw contractors with the Pentagon’s R&D arm — the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — team up with engineers from prominent utilities to try to restore power that had been out for weeks following a hypothetical cyberattack. Their tall task: use a generator to gradually restart the power system, substation by substation — a process known as “black start” — all […]

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Utilities will have stricter cybersecurity reporting requirements under new ruling

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Zaid Shoorbajee

U.S. regulators are laying down stricter reporting requirements for electrical utilities that experience cybersecurity lapses. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said Thursday that utilities will have to report attempts by attackers, even if they don’t have an immediate effect, that ultimately make it easier to “harm reliable operation of the nation’s bulk electric system.” Current requirements only make utilities report incidents that result in an actual compromise or disruption. “Cyber threats to the bulk power system are ever changing, and they are a matter that commands constant vigilance,” FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre said in a statement. “Industry must be alert to developing and emerging threats, and a modified standard will improve awareness of existing and future cyber security threats.” The new standards will come by way of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a quasi-governmental body that implements FERC’s rulings for electrical utilities. NERC will have to develop standards […]

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Rick Perry: U.S. must use technology prowess to defend power grid

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Sean Lyngaas

The United States must harness its technical know-how to defend energy infrastructure from advanced hacking, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Monday, touting his department’s investments in cybersecurity research and development. Cyberattacks have gotten easier to carry out and their sophistication, scale and frequency have increased, Perry said in a speech at a Department of Energy conference in Austin. “The sustained and growing threat of cyberattacks to our energy infrastructure requires us to think differently, to act proactively,” the former Texas governor said. That means investing in new technologies to fortify the grid against hackers whose toolkits are only expanding, according to Perry. DOE in April announced $25 million in funding for research and development to boost cybersecurity in energy delivery systems. Last September, the department awarded $50 million through its national laboratories to improve energy-sector resiliency, including about $20 million in cybersecurity projects. With the unveiling of a new cybersecurity strategy […]

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Rick Perry: U.S. must use technology prowess to defend power grid

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Sean Lyngaas

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Senators want National Guard on call for cyberattacks

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Sean Lyngaas

A pair of Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that would give the National Guard a bigger role in defending everything from election systems to dams from cyberattacks. The bill from Sens. Maria Cantwell, Wash., and Joe Manchin, W.Va., would set up National Guard “cyber civil support teams” in every state and territory “to bridge the gap between federal and non-federal cybersecurity efforts,” the senators’ offices said in a release. The bill would put $50 million toward the National Guard teams, which would be tasked with preventing and mitigating the impact of cyber incidents, training critical infrastructure operators, and relaying classified threat information from U.S. Cyber Command to the states and private companies. States would have until September 30, 2022 to make their National Guard cyber teams operational. Another Democrat from Washington State, Rep. Derek Kilmer, has introduced companion legislation in the house. “As cyberattacks on the United States increase, we must […]

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The Aluminum Wiring Fiasco

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Dan Maloney

Someone who decides to build a house faces a daunting task. It’s hard enough to act as the general contractor for someone else, but when you decide to build your own house, as my parents did in the early 1970s, it’s even tougher. There are a million decisions to make in an information-poor and rapidly changing environment, and one wrong step can literally cast in stone something you’ll have to live with forever. Add in the shoestring budget that my folks had to work with, and it’s a wonder they were able to succeed as well as they did.