DailyPost 790
CYBER POWER OUTAGE
Its not only elections that Russia hacked in the US, on March 15, 2018, US government released report that there was a massive Russian hacking campaign to “infiltrate America’s infrastructure”– like power plants, nuclear generators etc. They were able to collect sensitive data. Though there was not identifiable sabotage, it opens floodgates to fulfill nefarious designs. The scare made the Energy Secretary to declare that Department of Energy needs an “office of cyber security and emergency response.” Think of a power outage situation emanating out of a hack, continuing beyond 48 hours and the world comes to a grinding halt.
As everything runs on power it is bound to have a cascading impact, even imagining of it is so scary. Such fate seems to the writing on the wall. A week before last Christmas, hackers struck an electric transmission station north of the city of Kiev, blacking out the Ukranian capital of a fifth of it’s total power capacity. As per research this represented a dangerous advancement in critical infrastructure hacking. The malware has been alternatively named as “Industroyer.” The infamous attack on Israeli power grid bringing it to halt in 2016 is fresh in everyone’s mind. That too in country famous for giant strides in Cyber Security and having built a Digital Iron Dome.
Starting from the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility attack in 2008, weaponization started. Stuxnet worm was the first military grade cyber weapon used. With power grids using techonologies of over 50 it is much simpler to have a critical infrastructure. The IT / OT divide doesn’t show any signs of evaporating in thin air. The Boards of power companies are not in position to understand the completely have security scenario and the power ecosystem. They have already become targets of an ongoing war, the sooner they realise the better it is. SCADA systems would be ultimate acquisition of war and not territory, POWs or booty.
Decision makers at all levels have to understand. Between the present archaic power systems and the much touted Smart Grid, the brave new world has to transversed. The world cannot wait for that, the empirical gap, based on an audit, will have to be bridged in a phased manner.
CAPABLITY TO PREVENT & RESPOND TO CYBER POWER OUTAGES IS EXISTENTIAL.
Sanjay Sahay