Homework 3

Feds Seek Stronger Security For Power Grid - January 10, 2012

The Department of Energy and the Department of Defense have teamed up to create a cybersecurity model that can be tested and applied across the utility industry to provide insight into how to better protect the U.S. electricity grid. The Electric Sector Cybersecurity Risk Management Maturity Model pilot project aims to work with experts in both the public and private sector to use existing cybersecurity strategies to develop a so-called "maturity model" that can identify how secure the electricity grid currently is from cyber threats, The Obama administration has put a particular focus on protecting the electricity grid and other control systems from a persistent and growing cybersecurity threat, and patterning with the private companies that control that sector has been key to the effort. The reason I have found this article interesting is because it shows that the threat of hackers is even a concern on a national level. In class, we saw the virus that hit MIT and the affect it had. If there is a hacker out there smart enough to take down the entire power grid the country would go into complete pandemonium and chaos. All security measures for all businesses and banks are run electronically now. There will be no security cameras to watch over people. Even if the power grid went down for an hour, most businesses and banks could be wiped out. I think its a very smart idea to start testing strong cybersecurity plans for all utilities in the U.S. I also found the fact that modern day hackers are focused more on control systems rather than computer software. Basically, hackers are trying to take down the top of the line security structures in the world rather than what is now considered easy items to hack, like CPU's. The first thing to pop into my head when I first read the article was actually the movie, Live Free or Die Hard. In the movie, an ex-government hack defense agent hires the nation's best hackers to essentially hack into and shut down the power grid. So I feel that the defense for our nation's utilities systems have been a growing concern for the past decade or so.