Cyber czar: Power companies need to watch their backs

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20120411_4285.php

By Aliya Sternstein
Nextgov
04/11/2012

President Obama's top cybersecurity official on Wednesday said utilities must 
pinpoint security gaps in their electricity delivery systems on a regular 
basis.

The Energy Department, in cooperation with the White House, Homeland Security 
Department and power companies, this month is expected to test a voluntary 
reporting model that assesses an individual utility's security posture to 
identify where safeguards are needed most. As of March 30, the Office of 
Management and Budget was finalizing information collection procedures for the 
trial.

The nation's energy sector must perform "active risk management performance 
evaluations, continuous monitoring, exercises and simulations to determine on a 
regular basis how we're doing," White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard 
Schmidt told industry and government leaders at McAfee's annual public sector 
conference.

As the industry moves toward smart meters with Internet-connected sensors that 
help utilities and customers economize, it is becoming a hacker target. Thieves 
can game the system to display less power than the actual amount consumed, 
while adversaries theoretically could darken cities by breaking into industrial 
control systems.

[...]


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