1、m a r c h 2 0 1 4 P o l i c y B r i e fSecuring the GridOpportunities and Risks in Operational TechnologyBy robert J.ButlerThe smart grid “a planned nationwide network that uses information technology to deliver electricity efficiently”1 will make the delivery of electricity in the United States not
2、 only vastly more efficient but also potentially more vulnerable to cyberattack and,thus,potentially less reliable.Indeed,the very features that make this new grid smarter than the system it is replacing will open new avenues for adversaries to access the grid,as well as new ways for them to disrupt
3、 grid operations once they gain access.In August 2003,a blackout that began in northern Ohio when a high-voltage power line brushed against overgrown trees cascaded across the grid.It ultimately affected 55 million people,contributed to six deaths in New York,caused 4 million Detroit residents to bo
4、il their drinking water for four days and cost between$7 billion and$10 billion.2 If a natural threat can cause that type of disruption and destruction,just imagine the cascading negative effects of a planned cyberattack against an interconnected smart-grid network over an even larger geographic reg