Scientists Propose Enhanced Smart Grid Cybersecurity Measures
Image courtesy of Tim Reckmann under Attribution 2.0 Generic License, resized to 700 x 391 pixels.
Smart grid cybersecurity is one of the most critical elements of emergency planning that utilities, especially large electric utilities, must focus on and optimize. Like it or not, smart devices are a huge part of society’s future, but unfortunately these items can be used as backdoor entry points for hackers to access company networks. But not only that, even things like transformers and generators are vulnerable.
Luckily, a group of scientists much smarter than me has come up with some new ideas for protecting the evolving smart grid.
Recommended Smart Grid Cybersecurity Approach
The scientists, from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, discussed their ideas at the annual meeting for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence that recently took place in Vancouver, Canada.
In a nutshell, the concept involves a tool that sorts and prioritizes cyber threats on the fly. In other words, it helps provide visibility into the most severe threats, allowing decision makers to make intelligent decisions. This is a more organized approach compared to current practices which often involve protecting the grid and its thousands of components piece by piece, a very overwhelming and inefficient proposition for fostering smart grid security.
The prioritization tool relies on something called “hybrid attack graphs,” a mathematical model which enables users to visually display and follow various attack routes as they evolve. Sound complicated? It is, which is why the team is focused on making the tool explainable, so users understand how the model prioritizes and why it makes the recommendations it does.
Although the tool is continuing to be refined, it is a terrific start to solving a massive problem. There are many smart grid vulnerabilities, and a well-conceived cyberattack could take down large swaths of the grid with the click of a button. We can’t let that happen, and that’s why smart grid cybersecurity is one of the most critical components of any utility’s emergency preparedness program.
