Thursday, December 2, 2010

POWERGRID IN CRISIS

President Obama's talk about the new energy grid that involves
efficient power transmission along with advanced information
technologies using the Internet.Optimization of intergrating
individual rooftop solar and local wind turbines,with the
existing power grid to produce not just efficiency,but reliability
and availability.
However there's a big flaw in this plan.The problem is
cybersecurity.To achieve this new all inclusive grid means
connecting all sources of the grid to the Internet.
The thing is that the energy grid has already been identified
as a taget of cyberattacks.Utilities and private power firms
have failed to install patches to security software against
malware threats.
As the power industry continues to invest in information
technology these vulnerabilities will worsen.With the installation
of smart meters ,susceptibility to denial of sevice and
phishing attacks.At worst an entire portion of the grid
could be hacked into and powered down.
A smart grid needs smart cybersecurity from the inception
which is not being done.