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Call for greater cyber security in power networks

Em News Bureau ,  Friday, June 22, 2012, 10:53 Hrs  [IST]

Cyber security is a universal issue and there needs to be coordination of public and private sector entities in combating cyber threat, said Ramesh Chandak, President, IEEMA. He was delivering the keynote address at a recent national seminar on "Cyber Security for Crucial Power Networks," in Mumbai organized by city-based High-Tech Technologies.

Chandak observed that cyber attacks can be equated to terrorism and efforts must be directed to protect networks from deliberate attack. While the power sector can be amongst the bigger casualties of cyber attacks, other critical sectors like transport and healthcare are also vulnerable, he noted. The IEEMA President also made a pertinent remark that it is not only large companies that need to protect themselves from cyber vandalism; even the SME sector can be affected. Any cyber attack on the SME sector can seriously disrupt the supply chain, said Chandak.

The power sector is crucial to the economy and hence power networks need special protection from cyber threat. Chandak cited examples of there being security breaches even in Smart Grids of developing nations like USA. Right from power generation to consumption, power networks could be hacked, he felt. Cyber attacks can result not only in disruption of power supplies but also be the cause of widespread data corruption leading to commercial losses of power utilities.

The IEEMA President also underlined the importance of Smart Grids and noted that it was part of the power ministry's priority agenda. Indian government has created a task force on Smart Grid, he said, adding that IEEMA has also created a Smart Grid division.

The chief guest of the seminar Union power minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, addressing through video link, encouraged Dr. Dinesh Mhatre, CEO, High-Tech Technologies, for piloting the idea and bringing the latest technology in India,

N.S. Sodha, Executive Director, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, underlined the timeliness of the seminar and, in his detailed presentation, discussed the issue of cyber threat in the power sector and how upcoming power systems need to be equipped to handle malicious cyber intent. In the XII Plan period (2012- 17), India would be adding around 80,000 mw of new power generation capacity that would be much more than the cumulative achievement of the past 15 years. Investment to the order of Rs.4 trillion will be made in the power T&D sector alone, Sodha noted. In future, there will be Internet connectivity between the power generator and power consumer. Grid management centres are already interacting with market intermediaries like power regulators and power exchanges. "Connectivity and data flow have increased manifold and definitely, more and more secured power networks are necessary in future," Sodha said.

Jeremy Butcher, CEO, Fox-IT discussed at length the nature of cyber threats and gave examples from different parts of the world on how utility services were affected through cyber espionage. Butcher even cited an example of a leading private sector utility company going bankrupt soon after a cyber assault. Fox-IT is a global provider of cyber security services and its flagship product "Data Diode" is being widely used in various countries by critical network infrastructure companies in protecting their networks from cyber threat. Fox-IT, through an exclusive partnership with Mumbai based Hi-Tech Technologies, is on course to launching its products and services in India. Butcher made a very enlightening observation that though firewalls are often regarded as an efficient means to protect network, they have serious limitations and are extremely vulnerable. Data diodes, on the other hand, offer much stronger protection. Discussing technical details, the Fox-IT official explained that data diodes offer complete protection because they allow only unidirectional flow of information.

The highlight of the seminar was a thoughtprovoking presentation by B.J. Srinath, Senior Director, CERT-in, Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, Government of India, who not only gave an overview of India's efforts towards building cyber security but also touched upon the subject of security on a rather philosophical plane. In a light-hearted talk that evoked much appreciation from the audience, Srinath said that there was nothing like "absolute security". It is only a question of increasing our comfort level about security. Srinath observed that while formulating security measures, 80 per cent of the solution comes from "common sense" while another 15 per cent is the contribution of technology. There will always be a small component that is beyond one's control. Highlighting a paradox about security that attracted bouts of laughter, Srinath said, "Deciding that I am at low risk is itself the biggest risk!"
 
                 
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