Power grid security

DHS Urges Utilities To Prepare For Cyber-Attacks

Cyber is the war turf, that much has become painfully clear. The recent cyber attacks on Ukrainian electrical infrastructure demonstrate that much. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is paying close attention to these developments and urging power companies to develop new, better practices to combat this threat.

“A targeted cyber incident — either alone or combined with a physical attack — on the power system could lead to huge costs and cascading effects, with sustained outages over large portions of the electric grid and prolonged disruptions in communications, water and wastewater treatment services, healthcare delivery, financial services and transportation,” said Caitlin Durkovich, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Infrastructure Protection within the National Protection and Programs Directorate.

A team of US officials travelled to Ukraine in January to examine the now infamous incident. They discovered that almost half a year prior, an unknown attacker used a spear-phishing attack to obtain credentials and unauthorised access to the power plant’s control systems. Using these, the hacker was able to shut down circuit breakers and disrupt regional power supply.