Smart Grid Security

Posted by Energy Wire on April 19, 2011 at 2:27 PM

Today's New York Times Business Day section talks about an important aspect of the Smart Grid not getting nearly enough attention: security.
"A 'Smart' Grid Will Expose Utilities to Smart Computer Hackers" (http://nyti.ms/fAI6TP), by ClimateWire's Peter Behr, warns of the potential for significant damage to business and residential customers should a utility's grid be hacked.

According to Behr's report, "The scope of the threat is expanding faster than the utility sector's response, says Michael Assante, the former chief security officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., the federally designated grid monitor. Assante left NERC last year to form a new nonprofit, the National Board of Information Security Examiners, which provides technical certification qualification for utility cyber defenders. The certification is intended to identify elite cybersecurity professionals."

Makes one wonder if we fully comprehend what we're getting into with Smart Grid. What do you think?