The electric power utility industry is planning to start looking for cyberthreats against the power grid, and especially components that would wind up being the cornerstone of the Smart Grid project. According to the article, officials at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) are planning to start a pilot investigation of cybersecurity risks to the power grid while simultaneously retaining a large defense contractor to examine the problem over a longer term.
Although there have been previous reports of foreign-sponsored cyber-penetration attempts against the US power grid, this initiative by NERC represents the first tangible acknowledgment of the scope and complexity of the problem.
The original article is available from the Wall Street Journal online.
