Energy Biz - September/October 2008 - (Page 100) » technoloGy Frontier Plant engineers subsequently removed all physical connections between the two systems, but cyber experts noted that this type of problem can occur when corporate computer systems are connected to sensitive control systems that were never designed with security in mind. Although these incidents were relatively harmless, the idea that nuclear plants are so vulnerable to such unintended consequences — which could someday include a catastrophic release of radiation — won’t reassure a jittery public that still hasn’t gotten over the 1979 meltdown at Three Mile Island. NRC’s communications policies are hardly reassuring. NRC’s event notification report for the March 24 Indian Point incident doesn’t mention the role of the digital camera at all, only a loss of speed in the feed pump. Entergy’s incident report also neglected to mention the digital camera. It’s like the old joke of saying someone died of heart failure due to a bullet through the heart. It was only when the local press got wind of the incident in June that NRC promised an information notice. Still, as NRC’s Sheehan notes, the plants themselves performed as required by automatically shutting down. “That’s what they’re designed to do if there is any sort of anomaly involving any security feature,” he says. Dealing with cyber threats ENERgy COMPANiES STEP UP PREPARATiON By PAUL KORzENiOWSKi The aTTacks on 9/11 illusTraTed how terrorists’ minds work. Their approach was not simply to kill as many individuals as possible; it was to cause as much disruption to the U.S. way of life as possible. In the days after the attack, airlines were closed, companies closed up shop, and the aftereffects were seen in the stock market for many months. In examining what they could attack to cause similar damage, the nation’s energy grid emerges as a possible target, one with many potential entry points. In the aftermath of 9/11, the government as well as energy providers took stock of the possible damage and have been trying to close up possible holes. “A lot of work has been done to secure the energy grid but more is needed,” said Joseph Bucciero, senior vice president of KEMA, an international energy consulting company. The limitations of the efforts stem as much from the breadth of the challenges found with cyber security as from the industry’s response itself. A terrorist only needs to find one security hole in a complex network while energy companies have to seal all possible entry points. The nature of the energy business complicates the security task. “Unlike most companies, energy corporations run two separate networks: one that controls the flow of energy and a second that supports their administrative functions,” said Chuck Newton, president of Newton-Evans market research firm. The more vulnerable area may be with the former, and part of the reason is recent technical advances. In the old days, power companies had technicians go from manhole to manhole to determine which part of their grid had problems. Now, they have automated systems that monitor and control the flow of energy from place to place. Lately, they have been expanding the reach of these systems. Power providers have been reaching into businesses and consumers’ homes, so they have more knowledge about demand. While these changes enable energy companies to streamline their operations, they create new security challenges. In most cases, supervisory Gatherings www.energycentral.com/events T E C H N O L O GY F R O N T I E R To view any of these events, please go to www.energycentral.com/ ) into the quick link box. quicklink and type the quick link code ( OCTOBER 1-2 World Energy Engineering Congress 1-4 13-14 15-18 21-23 26-29 27-29 | | Eolica Expo 2008 | Utility Tech Congress | Knowledge 2008 Utility CIO Summit | AMRChina | SAP for Utilities | T&D World University Washington Rome Dubai, UAE Napa, Calif. Dalian, China San Antonio Dallas E17886 E17241 E18261 E18277 E18525 E17784 E17839 NOVEMBER 3-6 Southeastern Electricity Metering Association 19-21 26-28 | | RENEXPO South-East Europe | Hydropower Plants Clearwater Beach, Fla. ® E18028 Bucharest, Romania E18611 Vienna, Austria E17976 100 E n E rgyB i z September/October 2008 http://www.energycentral.com/events http://www.energycentral.com/
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