DHS Finally to Test Cybersecurity at Power Plants – Run-up to Smart Grid
The
Department of Homeland Security is quietly creating specialized teams of
experts to test industrial control systems at U.S power plants for
cybersecurity weaknesses. An August 4 Associate Press report indicated DHS has
so far created four teams to conduct such assessments, according to the
director of control system security. The official told the news service that 10
teams are expected to be in the field next year as the program’s annual budget
grows from $10 million to $15 million. A DHS spokeswoman confirmed the DHS
plan. She said the special teams are part of an Industrial Control Systems
Computer Emergency Response Team (ICS CERT) that DHS has been building over the
past year in response to worldwide cybersecurity threats against industry
control systems (ICS). The teams are being set up to help companies in critical
infrastructure industries respond to and mitigate cyber incidents affecting
ICS, she said. Each DHS team is said to be equipped with forensic tools,
cables, converters and data-storage equipment to be used to probe for and fix
security vulnerabilities in control systems. According to the report, the
specialized DHS teams conducted 50 security assessments at power plants in the
past year. In addition, teams were dispatched 13 times to investigate cyber
incidents — nine were found to be cyber intrusions and four were caused by
operator error.