News Insights: White House Rushes to Strengthen Security of U.S. Power Grid as Hacking Threats Grow

The White House is working on a 100-day action plan to shore up the security of the U.S. power grid, which has come under increased attack from hackers.  The draft plan is expected to incentivize power utilities to install sophisticated new monitoring equipment to more quickly detect hackers, and to share that information widely with the U.S. government.

News Insights:

According to Edgard Capdevielle, CEO of Nozomi Networks, a provider of OT/IoT security:

“This is something that should be happening across all critical infrastructure. Not being able to see, secure and defend against inevitable attacks can lead to unnecessary deaths or cripple our economy.  A plan like this is definitely a step in the right direction. While there may be some reluctance to share data with the government, the alternative of not doing anything or enough could be devastating. The critical infrastructure sectors need authority, budget, and technology, in the middle of a severe skilled worker shortage, in order to address the escalated level of threats. It’s good to see action finally being taken at the highest levels to incent companies and organizations to defend against potential crippling attacks.”