This week Michael Assante, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), testified before congress about the threats facing the modern electric grid. The focus of this testimony in particular was the readiness of the systems comprising the electric grid to defend themselves against cyber attacks. At the beginning of his testimony, Mr. Assante called out the unique aspect of the dangers posed by a cyber attack and why that was so concerning to him.
“Unlike other concerns, such as extreme weather, security-related threats can be driven by malicious actors who intentionally manipulate or disrupt normal operations as part of a premeditated design to cause damage. Cyber-related threats pose a special set of concerns in that they can arise virtually anytime, anywhere and change and emerge without warning.” Continue reading this post…