Report Details Cybersecurity Implications for the Energy Sector

ScottMadden has released a report highlighting the future implications on cybersecurity for the energy sector. 

The report outlines the significant changes to the energy grid taking place in certain parts of the US which will result in significant exchanging of confidential information - information that has traditionally remained within the control of utilities. In response to the resulting cybersecurity risk the federal government has provided industry regulation and guidance but has not provided a focus in some of the new risk areas being exposed by grid transformation, ultimately leaving individual states to fill the gap.

The publication points to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) reporting that the energy industry was the most commonly targeted industry in the United States for cyber attacks in the fiscal year 2014 with 32% of all attacks being directed against the energy sector.

Also, the report quotes a separate recent study by ScottMadden, which shows that more than 70% of energy executives professed minimal confidence in their organization’s ability to effectively manage security risks to information assets, enterprise systems, SCADA networks, and critical infrastructure. Furthermore, more than 50% of these executives perceived the magnitude of cybersecurity threats to their control systems to be high to severe.