Peter Behr reports that regulators of the U.S. nuclear plants and high-voltage power lines met yesterday for a top-level review of threats and hurdles each faces from cyber attacks, natural disasters and the grid-disruptive transitions.
The public meeting of commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission highlighted common strategies both agencies are following. They include pursuing cyber risks from contaminated vendor equipment and software, addressing potential vulnerabilities in communications pathways, and prioritizing regulations on the most urgent issues. (The commissioners also met in private.)
The threat of cyberattacks through the power sector supply chain has become a top priority after disclosures that Havex and BlackEnergy reconnaissance malware had penetrated industrial control networks via corrupted software updates from vendors (EnergyWire, July 20).
The Department of Energy is encouraging the industry vendors to create a working group on supply-chain vulnerabilities, and the issue is expected to be raised at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association meeting next month, officials said. A NEMA official said today the association intends to create a working group of senior industry executives patterned after the Electricity Sub-Sector Coordinating Council, which links utility executives with counterparts in government security agencies.
NRC regulations cover nuclear plant operator equipment acquisition policies and supply chain protection. FERC, meanwhile, is seeking industry comment on creating a reliability standard for supply chain cyber issues and what its compliance timetable should be.
The challenge of regulating the morphing lines of cyber-security attacks has led FERC to issuing a series of expanding regulations.
For magnitude of the cyber threats, see: http://map.norsecorp.com/
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