Reports of an unparalleled grid “cyber event” caused a stir in power sector and cybersecurity circles. The grid runs everything. Forget how powerful the Grid is. Think how many other vital infrastructure sectors rely on electricity? Yes, it is everything.

ERC fined a US “regional entity” for 127 violations of the NERC CIP standard. Cyber attacks on the electric grid pose the risk of serious social disruption.

The breakthrough is TrustWrx . It effectively “firewalls” the entire communications channel.  TrustWrx provides an architecture for secure communications where the fraudsters simply cannot operate. Simply put, if they cannot connect or talk to a server or network, then they cannot hack into it or steal data. 

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Russian hackers have infiltrated the U.S. electric grid. That means they may have the ability to shut down major power plants. The targeted facilities included at least one nuclear power plant and other types of infrastructure as well.

Officials still have not determined what sparked the fire that shut down power at the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International and are reportedly refusing to rule out terrorism.

A power outage plunged much of Reagan National Airport into darkness Wednesday night. Dominion Power is working understand the root cause of that power disruption.

A huge explosion at a New York power plant has turned the sky above parts of the city a bright blue-green. Many Manhattanites were stunned when the sky over parts of Queens started to glow a bright neon blue.

Officials blamed a power surge for the blackout on Dec. 28th that left LaGuardia airport in the dark for about 45 minutes, grounding flights. A look at the trend of power outages at American airports shows a disturbing pattern and possibly sinister cause…cyberattacks.

Cybersecurity will define many of the international conflicts of the future. Here’s an overview of the current threat landscape.

In recent years, hacks against the power grid have gone from a mostly theoretical risk to a real-world problem. Two large-scale blackouts in Ukraine caused by Russian cyberattacks in 2015 and 2016 showed just how feasible it is. Russia’s continues to probe US critical infrastructure alarming.

The Department of Homeland Security has recently disclosed new details about the extent to which Russia has infiltrated “critical infrastructure” like American power plants, water facilities and gas pipelines.

Cyber risks can come in direct strikes targeted toward electrical grid or other crucial infrastructure which may impact the operations or safety of this grid. Cyber risk of the grid are intrusions concentrated on manipulating industrial management system networks.

The very real possibility of localized action is out there, but the grid is not going down tomorrow, next year, or anytime in the near future. This highly protective article may be quite misleading in its positive outlook.

A March 2017 MIT report found that both electricity and oil-and-gas industry leaders “believed that unduly complex, and insufficiently secure, hardware, software, and industrial controls were a significant source of cyber vulnerabilities.”

This is a rather amazing article published in New York Times that establishes and documents varioius foreign countries hacking of US utlities. It is rather alarming! And, establishes the need for significantly improved security.