INSIGHTS 2018 5Energy security
But we live in a highly connected and digital world. Achieving
maximum control of the grid in today’s world necessarily implies
greater digitalisation and networking: the best results and the greatest
efficiency will be achieved by leveraging modern digital technologies
such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Enhanced grid intel-
ligence through digitalisation and data sharing will make the grid more
responsive to changes in electricity demand and better at integrating
new sources of generation.
Leveraging digitalisation introduces a greater need to focus on
cybersecurity. In the past, energy grids were based on centralised
generation, and energy distribution was managed by a proprietary
SCADA network disconnected from the internet and business networks.
Modern connectivity, which enables greater data sharing, has the side
effect of introducing new cyber hazards.
Reports and recommendations
In the Australian Government’s 2016 Threat Report, released by the
government’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the energy
sector was identified as the sector with the highest number of re-
ported incidents or near-incidents relating to critical infrastructure.
The report stated that between July 2015 and June 2016, CERT Aus-
tralia responded to 14,804 cybersecurity incidents affecting Australian
businesses, 418 of which involved systems of national interest and
critical infrastructure.^1
The famous Finkel review ‘Blueprint for the Future’^3 , discussed
the need for strong cybersecurity measures and recommended that
an “annual report into the cyber security preparedness of the Na-
tional Electricity Market should be developed by the Energy Security
Board, in consultation with the Australian Cyber Security Centre and
the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of the Environment
and Energy”.
Cybersecurity has become a key strategic priority for energy
networks in the past two years, with energy network businesses
using advanced cybersecurity strategies to deter, detect and respond
to threats. With the increase in cybersecurity risks, networks have
strengthened collaborative approaches in the past 12 months to heighten
the capacity of the sector to identify hazards and respond quickly.^4
For obvious reasons, efforts and initiatives to manage cyberse-
curity risk to protect the safety and security of Australians are not
discussed openly. However, the recent publication by Energy Networks
Australia, ‘Cyber Security and Energy Networks’^5 , provides an overview
of the areas where Australian energy network providers believe that
cybersecurity must be managed.In some ways we have been here before
Adapting to the management of cybersecurity is not dissimilar to
other procedural and technological changes that industry has adapted
to in the past: occupational health and safety (OHS) and plant safety
systems. The standardised management of OHS is now an integral
part of every business, although it was some years in the develop-
ment of comprehensive procedures and policies. Businesses have
learned from the OHS journey and are increasing the priority placed
on cybersecurity in terms of engagement with employees, contrac-
tors and suppliers.
Similarly, the methodologies of cybersecurity threat and risk assess-
ment, and subsequent risk mitigation strategies, should be generally
familiar to organisations that have done the same in the development
of plant safety systems. The main difference for energy networks,
however, is the distributed nature of the potential ‘attack surface’.New technologies, new attack vectors
A major problem for energy networks in recent years has been the
adoption of renewable energy sources, which create network manage-
ment challenges due to their variable supply characteristics. Better
utilisation of modern digitalisation technologies and the IoT will help
to manage these variable energy sources, while ever these systems
are under the control of the energy networks.
However, energy systems around the world are also experiencing
the rapid adoption of other types of distributed energy resources,
such as smart meters, smart inverters, electric vehicles, rooftop solar
photovoltaics, battery storage and home energy management systems.© stock.adobe.com/au/Yuttana Studio