Securing smarter grids

Electrical power distribution networks are getting smarter every way with increased automation within n networks and smart meters at the customer premises. Those new features have many benefits, but they also introduce new vulnerabilities to the system. As smart grids become more vulnerable to cyber-attacks every day, what developments are in place to ensure a secure infrastructure?

E&T magazine article Securing smarter grids from the enemy article tells that with the way modern society works, we are completely dependent on electricity and there has been a lot of recent publicity around cyber attacks on smart grids. Smart grid security is a hot topic now. We rely on electricity for communication services and the supply of all our daily necessities such as water, food, transport, fuel, healthcare, national security and banks, so without it, everything grinds to a halt.

So, protecting our smart grids from attacks is obviously a problem that needs to be resolved with some urgency and one that technology companies large and small have been working to address. In the US, Intel Security, in partnership with Wind River, has developed a new platform, Intel Security Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP).

Meanwhile in Europe: European Network for Cyber Security (ENCS) helps to establish new smart grid security requirements. Netcontrol has been developing smart grid automation and security systems that have created an extra layer of security. Headquartered in Finland, Netcontrol has customers worldwide whose power grids are being protected by its solutions. Netcontrol’s Netcon gateway and remote terminal units contain fully integral cyber-security services (firewall, VPN, authentication, end-to-end encryption), providing a secure base for energy network automation. Netcon ALL-IP solutions are projects where legacy utility communication infrastructure is retrofitted with IP communication (ALL-IP) that provides one multi-service IP-network for the utility with logical and secure separation of all the services.

I know those Netcontrol products well, because I have been developing them. Nice to seem things I design mentioned in magazine article.