POWER-GRID SECURITYScientists Put Forth a Smarter Way to Protect a Smarter Grid
Proliferation of programmable devices presents more gateways for cyberattack. That makes the electric grid, increasingly chock full of devices that interact with one another and make critical decisions, vulnerable to bad actors who might try to turn off the power, damage the system or worse.
There’s a down side to “smart” devices: They can be hacked.
That makes the electric grid, increasingly chock full of devices that interact with one another and make critical decisions, vulnerable to bad actors who might try to turn off the power, damage the system or worse.
But smart devices are a big part of our future as the world moves more toward renewable energy and the many new devices to manage it. Already, such tools play a big role in keeping the power humming. The portion of the grid owned by utilities has thousands of devices that can be targeted, including transformers and generators. And then there are devices owned by customers, municipalities and others, such as solar panels and charging stations. With so many devices as well as an array of partners who have a stake in the grid, it’s becoming more taxing than ever to prevent or stop every potential attack.
At the recent annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in Vancouver, Canada, a team of experts at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory put forth a new approach to protect the grid.
The team, led by data scientist Sumit Purohit, is trying to leapfrog current practices and create a better level of protection. Instead of protecting the electric grid and its tens of thousands of components piece by piece, the team is creating a tool that sorts and prioritizes cyber threats on the fly. The idea is to give grid operators a clear blueprint to identify and address the biggest threats first and to protect against them without a mad scramble for resources down the road.
“A great deal of effort is put forth every day into addressing specific vulnerabilities, but that can be overwhelming,” said Purohit. “We’re putting forth a longer-term solution. What do you need to be looking at, not just today or tomorrow, but years down the road, as the grid is changing?
“It’s important to deal with today’s problems, but let’s also think about tomorrow’s challenges. We need to plan for things down the line as more smart devices like batteries, inverters, generators and hybrid cars are connected to the grid,” Purohit added.
It’s a bit like the difference between addressing ailments one at a time compared to embarking on decades of preventive health. A person might break a hip falling at home one year, end up in the ER with a bad case of pneumonia a few years later, and then have a heart attack. Of course, getting the best treatment for each condition is critical.
