Welcome to the Grid@Risk blog.
This is the online companion to the IEEE-USA webinar on July 20: “Cyber Security in the Electric Sector”.
Also see the article in IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer: “Raising Priority for Cyber Security in the Electric Utility Sector’s C-Suite“.
Without power, there is significant risk to our economy and society. So, securing the electric infrastructure is a matter of public safety. A lack of system protection on a cyber level goes far beyond an IT problem or a matter of avoiding financial penalties – it’s vital to the long term health of our infrastructure and more.
What did you think of the IEEE-USA webinar?
Hello, Dan,
Thank you for your informative presentation on “Cybersecurity in the Electric Utility Sector” for the IEEE risk management webinar series.
After hearing your presentation, I did have one question.
My question concerns the reference you made (twice) in your presentation to a “second Internet” for control networks. I have not encountered this concept in any of my reading or study of security for the bulk power system to date. Can you provide any details or references to proposals or plans detailing what such a network would involve? Is the proposal actually to have a second *physical* IP-based network, or a logical network-within-a-network, like a VPN created using tunneling protocols?
If you could point me in the direction of any additional information on this concept of a “second Internet”, I would be most grateful. Thanks!
Best regards,
Therese
Therese-
The “second” internet has been raised by folks, including in the US Congress as a way to resolve security issues with the current, public internet. Currently, I don’t believe there are any exacting specification of its design. You may want to check out what the head of the NSA has stated about this and I think Rep. Markey may have proposed it. Hope that helps.
Dan
Dan,
Thank you for the additional information about the “second internet”. I was not able to find any references to this associated with Rep. Markey, but I was able to find Gen. Alexander’s references to the concept. Unfortunately, so far I have not been able to find any evidence this proposal has advanced beyond the conceptual stage. But I am continuing to search.
It is an intriguing proposal, especially given recent interest in, and research into future Internet architectures. For example, the July issue of IEEE Communications Magazine contains an article entitled “A Survey of the Research on Future Internet Architectures.” I have yet to read the entire article, but I’m hoping it may shed some light on how the engineers are approaching the design of a more flexible, reliable and secure Internet.
Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention.
Best regards,
Therese