U.S. Government Makes Surprise Move To Secure Power Grid From Cyberattacks

[rangerrebew]

111,990 viewsJul 3, 2019, 09:51am
U.S. Government Makes Surprise Move To Secure Power Grid From Cyberattacks
Kate O'Flaherty


The U.S. Government has announced a surprising move to secure power grids by using “retro” technologies. It comes after numerous attempts by foreign actors to launch cyberattacks on so-called critical national infrastructure (CNI).

Nations have been trying to secure the industrial control systems that power CNI for years. The challenge lies in the fact that these systems were not built with security in mind, because they were not originally meant to be connected to the internet.

It is with this in mind that the U.S. has responded with a new strategy: rather than bringing in new technology and skills, it will use analog and manual technology to isolate the grid's most important control systems. This, the government says, will limit the reach of a catastrophic outage.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2019/07/03/u-s-government-makes-surprise-move-to-secure-power-grid-from-cyber-attacks/#45f94a463191

[Fishrrman]

"It is with this in mind that the U.S. has responded with a new strategy: rather than bringing in new technology and skills, it will use analog and manual technology to isolate the grid's most important control systems. This, the government says, will limit the reach of a catastrophic outage."

So long as this can be done without jeopardizing load capacity, this sounds like "a simple solution to a complex problem" that could actually work.

Use "old tech" that can't be damaged by EMP -- nor "compromised" by way of rogue hacking invasions.

[Sanguine]

This has been a known problem for many years and many presidents.  Glad someone is finally taking some action.

[roamer_1]

Air gap may be old, but it is still the best and most effective route, which should be readily apparent to anyone with a lick of sense.

And it really does not need air gap exactly, just fall-back/override manual defaults.

Every computerized system should be able to be operated manually with the computer unplugged.

[Cyber Liberty]

Not much of a surprise if you tell the whole freaking world about it. 

[XenaLee]

Not much of a surprise if you tell the whole freaking world about it. 

Just be grateful they didn't publish a detailed outline and game plan.  Oh wait...

probably on Monday.  So nevermind.

[Fishrrman]

Beats EMP and the hackers all the time:


But how big does it have to be to handle 135,000 volts...?

[Cyber Liberty]

Beats EMP and the hackers all the time:


But how big does it have to be to handle 135,000 volts...?