US Power Grid Vs. Smart Grid

November 16, 2009
U.S. Power Grid vs. Smart Grid
IST 220 - The Red Team
JoshWentz, Kim Klinikowski,Christopher Alvarado,
Marco DeLeonardis, BrendanJann, & Jon Vettori

U.S. Power Grid
[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html]

How the power grid works
[http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/blackout/09-06-final-report.pdf]

How the smart grid works
[http://www.ngpowereu.com/news/smart-grid-revolution/]

How the smart grid works
[http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/images/454570a-6.jpg]

Have any attacks been done to the U.S. power grid?
Recent reports that federal authorities had detected signs that hackers had penetrated the computer systems that control the power grid
LIKELY FROM Russia and China
Both countries with militaries known to be pursuing cyberwarfarecapabilities
UNCLEAR when these intrusions had taken place
CLEAR that they had left a software signature

Is it true that no national power grid anywhere in the world has been brought down by a cyberattack?
FACT: No national power grid anywhere in the world has been brought down by a cyberattack
Most countries have much fewer defenses from cyberattacks than the U.S. "
It's virtually impossible to bring down the entire North American grid," says Major General (Rtd) Dale Meyerrose, a cybersecurity expert who recently retired as chief information officer for the Director of National Intelligence.
The electricity-distribution system is highly decentralized, and there's no central control
BUT: This is not to suggest that the power grid cannot be hacked into
In 2007, CNN reported that researchers working for the Department of Energy had mounted an experimental cyberattack against a power generator and were able to get it to self-destruct.
Details of the experiment were kept from the public at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.

How vulnerable is existing U.S. power grid?
EXISTING POWER GRID
Highly decentralized & no central control
Deals with breakdowns all the time & the industry knows how to fix them
On any given day, 500,000 Americans experience an outage, says ArshadMansoor of the Electric Power Research Institute, which is funded by the utility industry
The grid has built-in redundancies and manual overrides that allow for restoration of supply
Damage done to the power supply can be undone
If a section of the power grid goes down, they start it up again
EX: "In the banking system, if someone hacks the system and steals information about 500,000 credit cards, it's incredibly tough to undo that damage," says Mansoor. “
Most critical power users have multiple contingencies for uninterrupted power supply and backup generation
In the event of a cyberattack on the grid, they would be able to operate for long periods — days, weeks and, in some cases, indefinitely — without much difficulty.
EX: the military, hospitals, the banking system, phone networks, Google's server farms
PROBLEM
An aging electric infrastructure that has not had major technological advancement in a nearly a half century
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) projects a 40% increase in electric demand over the next 20 years that will cost utilities a projected $3 trillion

How vulnerable will the future U.S. power grid “The Smart Grid” be?
FUTURE POWER GRID
GridWisewas born, an initiative created under the DOE Office of Electricity and Energy Reliability
FOCUS: To stimulate the development and adoption of an intelligent energy system, or smart grid, to make the U.S. electric system more reliable and efficient
There are already 2 million smart meters in use in the U.S.
Obama Administration's 2010 budget includes $4.5 billion in spending on such technology
FEAR OF SOME
Relies even more on computer networks to allow both utilities and individual consumers to monitor and reduce power usage.
these meters may allow hackers access to the grid's control systems
BENEFIT OF OTHERS
The use of more-sophisticated monitoring systems makes the grid safer
[http://contractingbusiness.com/awards/design/smart-people-smart-grid-1009/index.html]

Group Reaction
IN RESPONSE TO
“US Major General (Meyerrose), Researcher at Electric Power Research Institute (Mansoor), and other experts agree that the utility industry's vulnerability will grow as its command-and-control systems rely ever more on computer networks”
The Vision of the future power grid “the smart grid” DOES pose additional challenges BUT NOT vulnerabilities
Today, security of information is of utmost importance to both the government and to companies
Systems that house and transfer this information rely on secure computer networks
Creating new means of power security is a challenge that must be overcome
POLITICAL HOPE
Introduction of a new bill, by Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe, to impose cybersecurity standards on private industry — regulations that would likely affect the utilities and other vital infrastructure
HOPE OF NEXT GENERATION
Entire majors have been created – security risk analysis – to prepare the next generation of professionals

Group Reaction
IN REPONSE TO
The fears of the future power grid “the smart grid”

The advancement of new ways to create an intelligent energy system should not be hindered by the fears of attack
Smart grid technology will involve information technology in order for both companies & consumers to monitor energy use
Visualizing where problems exist will allow companies & people to change energy consumptive behaviors
The benefits of the future power grid will outweigh the security challenges of its infrastructure

Bibliography
http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/blackout/09-06-final-report.pdf Page 13 Title:"Final Report on the August 14, 2003 Blackout in the United States and Canada" Dated April 2004. Accessed on 2008-12-26
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html
http://contractingbusiness.com/awards/design/smart-people-smart-grid-1009/index.html
http://www.ngpowereu.com/news/smart-grid-revolution/
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/images/454570a-6.jpg

Questions?
IST 220 - The Red Team
Kim Klinikowski, JoshWentz, Christopher Alvarado,
Marco DeLeonardis, BrendanJann, & Jon Vettori

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US Power Grid Vs. Smart Grid

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