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US Power Grid Vs. Smart Grid

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Josh Wentz
Josh Wentz

The document discusses and compares the existing U.S. power grid and the future "smart grid". The existing grid is highly decentralized with no central control, but relies on aging infrastructure. While it is resilient to outages and attacks, increasing demand will require upgrades. The smart grid will use more advanced monitoring through computer networks, allowing utilities and consumers to reduce usage. While this poses security challenges, experts believe the benefits outweigh the risks, and political support is growing for standards to secure critical infrastructure.

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November 16, 2009U.S. Power Grid vs. Smart GridIST 220 - The Red TeamJoshWentz, Kim Klinikowski,Christopher Alvarado, Marco DeLeonardis, BrendanJann, & Jon Vettori
U.S. Power Grid[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html]
How the power grid works[http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/blackout/09-06-final-report.pdf]
How the smart grid works[http://www.ngpowereu.com/news/smart-grid-revolution/]
How the smart grid works[http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/images/454570a-6.jpg]
Have any attacks been done to the U.S. power grid?Recent reports that federal authorities had detected signs that hackers had penetrated the computer systems that control the power gridLIKELY FROM Russia and China Both countries with militaries known to be pursuing cyberwarfarecapabilitiesUNCLEAR when these intrusions had taken place CLEAR that they had left a software signature[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html]
Is it true that no national power grid anywhere in the world has been brought down by a cyberattack?FACT: No national power grid anywhere in the world has been brought down by a cyberattackMost countries have much fewer defenses from cyberattacks than the U.S. "It's virtually impossible to bring down the entire North American grid," says Major General (Rtd) Dale Meyerrose, a cybersecurity expert who recently retired as chief information officer for the Director of National Intelligence. The electricity-distribution system is highly decentralized, and there's no central control BUT: This is not to suggest that the power grid cannot be hacked intoIn 2007, CNN reported that researchers working for the Department of Energy had mounted an experimental cyberattack against a power generator and were able to get it to self-destruct. Details of the experiment were kept from the public at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html]
How vulnerable is existing U.S. power grid?EXISTING POWER GRIDHighly decentralized & no central controlDeals with breakdowns all the time & the industry knows how to fix them On any given day, 500,000 Americans experience an outage, says ArshadMansoor of the Electric Power Research Institute, which is funded by the utility industryThe grid has built-in redundancies and manual overrides that allow for restoration of supply Damage done to the power supply can be undone If a section of the power grid goes down, they start it up againEX: "In the banking system, if someone hacks the system and steals information about 500,000 credit cards, it's incredibly tough to undo that damage," says Mansoor. “Most critical power users have multiple contingencies for uninterrupted power supply and backup generationIn the event of a cyberattack on the grid, they would be able to operate for long periods — days, weeks and, in some cases, indefinitely — without much difficulty.EX: the military, hospitals, the banking system, phone networks, Google's server farms PROBLEMAn aging electric infrastructure that has not had major technological advancement in a nearly a half centuryThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) projects a 40% increase in electric demand over the next 20 years that will cost utilities a projected $3 trillion[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html]
How vulnerable will the future U.S. power grid “The Smart Grid” be?FUTURE POWER GRIDGridWisewas born, an initiative created under the DOE Office of Electricity and Energy ReliabilityFOCUS: To stimulate the development and adoption of an intelligent energy system, or smart grid, to make the U.S. electric system more reliable and efficientThere are already 2 million smart meters in use in the U.S.Obama Administration's 2010 budget includes $4.5 billion in spending on such technologyFEAR OF SOMERelies even more on computer networks to allow both utilities and individual consumers to monitor and reduce power usage.these meters may allow hackers access to the grid's control systemsBENEFIT OF OTHERSThe use of more-sophisticated monitoring systems makes the grid safer[http://contractingbusiness.com/awards/design/smart-people-smart-grid-1009/index.html]
Group ReactionIN RESPONSE TO“US Major General (Meyerrose), Researcher at Electric Power Research Institute (Mansoor), and other experts agree that the utility industry's vulnerability will grow as its command-and-control systems rely ever more on computer networks”The Vision of the future power grid “the smart grid” DOES pose additional challenges BUT NOT vulnerabilities Today, security of information is of utmost importance to both the government and to companiesSystems that house and transfer this information rely on secure computer networksCreating new means of power security is a challenge that must be overcomePOLITICAL HOPEIntroduction of a new bill, by Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe, to impose cybersecurity standards on private industry — regulations that would likely affect the utilities and other vital infrastructureHOPE OF NEXT GENERATIONEntire majors have been created – security risk analysis – to prepare the next generation of professionals
Group ReactionIN REPONSE TOThe fears of the future power grid “the smart grid” The advancement of new ways to create an intelligent energy system should not be hindered by the fears of attackSmart grid technology will involve information technology in order for both companies & consumers to monitor energy useVisualizing where problems exist will allow companies & people to change energy consumptive behaviorsThe benefits of the future power grid will outweigh the security challenges of its infrastructure
Bibliographyhttp://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/blackout/09-06-final-report.pdf Page 13 Title:"Final Report on the August 14, 2003 Blackout in the United States and Canada" Dated April 2004. Accessed on 2008-12-26http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.htmlhttp://contractingbusiness.com/awards/design/smart-people-smart-grid-1009/index.htmlhttp://www.ngpowereu.com/news/smart-grid-revolution/http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/images/454570a-6.jpg
Questions?IST 220 - The Red TeamKim Klinikowski, JoshWentz, Christopher Alvarado, Marco DeLeonardis, BrendanJann, & Jon Vettori

More Related Content

US Power Grid Vs. Smart Grid

  • 1. November 16, 2009U.S. Power Grid vs. Smart GridIST 220 - The Red TeamJoshWentz, Kim Klinikowski,Christopher Alvarado, Marco DeLeonardis, BrendanJann, & Jon Vettori
  • 3. How the power grid works[http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/blackout/09-06-final-report.pdf]
  • 4. How the smart grid works[http://www.ngpowereu.com/news/smart-grid-revolution/]
  • 5. How the smart grid works[http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/images/454570a-6.jpg]
  • 6. Have any attacks been done to the U.S. power grid?Recent reports that federal authorities had detected signs that hackers had penetrated the computer systems that control the power gridLIKELY FROM Russia and China Both countries with militaries known to be pursuing cyberwarfarecapabilitiesUNCLEAR when these intrusions had taken place CLEAR that they had left a software signature[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html]
  • 7. Is it true that no national power grid anywhere in the world has been brought down by a cyberattack?FACT: No national power grid anywhere in the world has been brought down by a cyberattackMost countries have much fewer defenses from cyberattacks than the U.S. "It's virtually impossible to bring down the entire North American grid," says Major General (Rtd) Dale Meyerrose, a cybersecurity expert who recently retired as chief information officer for the Director of National Intelligence. The electricity-distribution system is highly decentralized, and there's no central control BUT: This is not to suggest that the power grid cannot be hacked intoIn 2007, CNN reported that researchers working for the Department of Energy had mounted an experimental cyberattack against a power generator and were able to get it to self-destruct. Details of the experiment were kept from the public at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html]
  • 8. How vulnerable is existing U.S. power grid?EXISTING POWER GRIDHighly decentralized & no central controlDeals with breakdowns all the time & the industry knows how to fix them On any given day, 500,000 Americans experience an outage, says ArshadMansoor of the Electric Power Research Institute, which is funded by the utility industryThe grid has built-in redundancies and manual overrides that allow for restoration of supply Damage done to the power supply can be undone If a section of the power grid goes down, they start it up againEX: "In the banking system, if someone hacks the system and steals information about 500,000 credit cards, it's incredibly tough to undo that damage," says Mansoor. “Most critical power users have multiple contingencies for uninterrupted power supply and backup generationIn the event of a cyberattack on the grid, they would be able to operate for long periods — days, weeks and, in some cases, indefinitely — without much difficulty.EX: the military, hospitals, the banking system, phone networks, Google's server farms PROBLEMAn aging electric infrastructure that has not had major technological advancement in a nearly a half centuryThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) projects a 40% increase in electric demand over the next 20 years that will cost utilities a projected $3 trillion[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.html]
  • 9. How vulnerable will the future U.S. power grid “The Smart Grid” be?FUTURE POWER GRIDGridWisewas born, an initiative created under the DOE Office of Electricity and Energy ReliabilityFOCUS: To stimulate the development and adoption of an intelligent energy system, or smart grid, to make the U.S. electric system more reliable and efficientThere are already 2 million smart meters in use in the U.S.Obama Administration's 2010 budget includes $4.5 billion in spending on such technologyFEAR OF SOMERelies even more on computer networks to allow both utilities and individual consumers to monitor and reduce power usage.these meters may allow hackers access to the grid's control systemsBENEFIT OF OTHERSThe use of more-sophisticated monitoring systems makes the grid safer[http://contractingbusiness.com/awards/design/smart-people-smart-grid-1009/index.html]
  • 10. Group ReactionIN RESPONSE TO“US Major General (Meyerrose), Researcher at Electric Power Research Institute (Mansoor), and other experts agree that the utility industry's vulnerability will grow as its command-and-control systems rely ever more on computer networks”The Vision of the future power grid “the smart grid” DOES pose additional challenges BUT NOT vulnerabilities Today, security of information is of utmost importance to both the government and to companiesSystems that house and transfer this information rely on secure computer networksCreating new means of power security is a challenge that must be overcomePOLITICAL HOPEIntroduction of a new bill, by Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe, to impose cybersecurity standards on private industry — regulations that would likely affect the utilities and other vital infrastructureHOPE OF NEXT GENERATIONEntire majors have been created – security risk analysis – to prepare the next generation of professionals
  • 11. Group ReactionIN REPONSE TOThe fears of the future power grid “the smart grid” The advancement of new ways to create an intelligent energy system should not be hindered by the fears of attackSmart grid technology will involve information technology in order for both companies & consumers to monitor energy useVisualizing where problems exist will allow companies & people to change energy consumptive behaviorsThe benefits of the future power grid will outweigh the security challenges of its infrastructure
  • 12. Bibliographyhttp://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/blackout/09-06-final-report.pdf Page 13 Title:"Final Report on the August 14, 2003 Blackout in the United States and Canada" Dated April 2004. Accessed on 2008-12-26http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891562,00.htmlhttp://contractingbusiness.com/awards/design/smart-people-smart-grid-1009/index.htmlhttp://www.ngpowereu.com/news/smart-grid-revolution/http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/images/454570a-6.jpg
  • 13. Questions?IST 220 - The Red TeamKim Klinikowski, JoshWentz, Christopher Alvarado, Marco DeLeonardis, BrendanJann, & Jon Vettori