Officials in charge of the reliability of the U.S. electric grid are taking a closer look at how to respond to cyberattacks and other possible catastrophic events.
The North American Electric Reliability Corp., or NERC, and the U.S. Department of Energy in a report to be released Wednesday call for a range of steps– from increasing communication to ensuring the supply of transformers and other equipment–to mitigate what they described as a “high-impact, low- frequency” event on the nation’s power system.
The report looked at a cyberattack, a pandemic and the detonation of a nuclear bomb at high altitudes among other possibilities. The catastrophic events the report examines aren’t necessarily the most probable, yet officials say cyberthreats are being detected currently on the nation’s grid.
“There have been events even recently where there has been suspicious activity–probing around control systems. But nothing of the magnitude of wha’s contemplated by this report,” NERC Chief Executive Gerry Cauley said during a conference call ahead of the report’s release.
The report highlights how new technologies to upgrade the grid and enable better coordination and control–often referred to generically as a smart grid– create potential new vulnerabilities. Additionally, the report states it's unclear to what extent utility networks already have been infiltrated. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that cyberspies have penetrated the grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system.
via US Officials Look At How To Respond To Threats To Electric Grid.
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I know nothing about computer technology, but would it be possible to develop a kill feature that would stop a cyber attack in it’s tracks? Is there a delay of micro seconds from the time an attack starts that it could be stopped to save some even if all data were not saved? Would systems be fried to the point of being useless? Would it be possible to build nuclear shields for the grids? Would telecommunications, land as well as mobile, be affected also? Would a successful attack bring all electricity in the country down or would it be regional? Would short wave radios still operate if home generators were used? Just some thoughts, some very scary thoughts.