Applying Security to Power System Operations Understanding the Security Requirements and Impact of Security Measures on Power System Operations Power system operations pose many security challenges that are different from most other industries. For instance, most security measures were developed to counter hackers on the Internet. The Internet environment is vastly different from the power system operations environment. Therefore, in the security industry there is typically a lack of understanding of the security requirements and the potential impact of security measures on the communication requirements of power system operations. In particular, the security services and technologies have been developed primarily for industries that do not have many of the strict performance and reliability requirements that are needed by system operations. For instance: Preventing an authorized dispatcher from accessing power system substation controls could have more serious consequences than preventing an authorized customer from accessing his banking account. Therefore, denial-of-service is far more important than in many typical Internet transactions. Many communication channels used in the power industry are narrowband, thus not permitting some of the overhead needed for certain security measures, such as encryption and key exchanges. Most systems and equipment are located in wide-spread, unmanned, remote sites with no access to the Internet. This makes key management and some other security measures difficult to implement. Many systems are connected by multi-drop communication channels, so normal network security measures cannot work. Although wireless communications are becoming widely used for many applications, utilities will need to be very careful where they implement these wireless technologies, partly because of the noisy electrical environment of substations, and partly because of the very rapid and extremely reliable response required by some applications. Security Measures Important to System Operations Resilience is the basic requirement for power system operations. Resiliency implies that the power system critical infrastructure is designed not only to prevent malicious attacks and inadvertent failures, but also to cope with and recover from such attacks and failures in a timely manner. Resilience requires a combination of cyber security and power system engineering design and procedures. Defense-in-depth is critical. Because of the large variety of communication methods and performance characteristics, as well as because no single security measure can counter all types of threats, it is expected than multiple layers of security measures will be implemented. For instance, cyber security measures may prevent some but not all attacks
Applying Security to Power System Operations Understanding the Security Requirements and Impact of Security Measures on Power System Operations Power system operations pose many security challenges that are different from most other industries. For instance, most security measures were developed to counter hackers on the Internet. The Internet environment is vastly different from the power system operations environment. Therefore, in the security industry there is typically a lack of understanding of the security requirements and the potential impact of security measures on the communication requirements of power system operations. In particular, the security services and technologies have been developed primarily for industries that do not have many of the strict performance and reliability requirements that are needed by system operations. For instance: Preventing an authorized dispatcher from accessing power system substation controls could have more serious consequences than preventing an authorized customer from accessing his banking account. Therefore, denial-of-service is far more important than in many typical Internet transactions. Many communication channels used in the power industry are narrowband, thus not permitting some of the overhead needed for certain security measures, such as encryption and key exchanges. Most systems and equipment are located in wide-spread, unmanned, remote sites with no access to the Internet. This makes key management and some other security measures difficult to implement. Many systems are connected by multi-drop communication channels, so normal network security measures cannot work. Although wireless communications are becoming widely used for many applications, utilities will need to be very careful where they implement these wireless technologies, partly because of the noisy electrical environment of substations, and partly because of the very rapid and extremely reliable response required by some applications. Security Measures Important to System Operations Resilience is the basic requirement for power system operations. Resiliency implies that the power system critical infrastructure is designed not only to prevent malicious attacks and inadvertent failures, but also to cope with and recover from such attacks and failures in a timely manner. Resilience requires a combination of cyber security and power system engineering design and procedures. Defense-in-depth is critical. Because of the large variety of communication methods and performance characteristics, as well as because no single security measure can counter all types of threats, it is expected than multiple layers of security measures will be implemented. For instance, cyber security measures may prevent some but not all attacks
IEC%2062351%20Cyber%20Security%20Standards%20from%20WG15,%202-2016.docx