Smart Grid Security More Important Than Ever
There’s no doubt about it, the so-called smart grid – which is essentially a data or digitally-enhanced version of the power grid – is here to stay and will eventually become ubiquitous. But the 2-way communication and inter-connected nature of a smart grid means that it is prone to system hacking, which makes cybersecurity more important than ever before.
Primer on Smart Grid Security
Smart grid security is, by necessity, becoming big business. Globally, the smart grid security market eclipsed $5 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow over 11% each year through 2025!
Simplistically, there are 3 basic pillars of smart security – protection, detection and response. Until recently, security companies have focused mainly on the protection pillar. The mainstream approach has been to protect the “perimeter” of the grid, which encompasses the backend technology as well as processes and people.
Security companies generally emphasize the technology piece of the perimeter. Unfortunately, this approach is insufficient, because even if the technology is secured, it’s the people and the processes that typically create backdoors that cyber attackers could exploit.
New approaches take into account all aspects of the perimeter, not just the underlying technology. And because it is not always possible to prevent human error or bad processes, coupled with the fact that security protocols always lag behind when it comes to new forms of attacks, the new philosophy of smart security assumes that the network will, sooner or later, get breached.
And once a beach is detected, stakeholders must form a response from which new learnings will emerge. This is why detection and response, in addition to protection, are critical elements of smart security. Read this article to view the more technical details of how this can be accomplished.
The bottom line is that smart grids are becoming more and more pervasive. It’s really just a matter of time before the vast majority of our nation’s grids are “smart.” This is why utilities like Portland General Electric are creating smart grid labs designed to test new and emerging security measures. If your utility is not proactively trying to solve the smart grid security puzzle, it’s already been left behind.
