The U.S. electrical grid, which serves more than 300 million people and is made up of more than 55,000 transmission substations, is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the country. Due to the interdependent structure of the components of the grid, a single line outage can cause power outages that affect millions of people and have significant costs on the economy. Specific attacks such as data interception, denial of service, data altercation, or a cyber “drive by shooting” have been used by groups, individuals, and nation-states against electrical grids. How do we prevent a catastrophic cyber attack on the U.S. power grid?

As industry works to secure the grid, alignment and collaboration between critical infrastructure owners and operators is crucial. What are the core challenges utilities are facing in protecting the grid from cyber attacks? What are the capability gaps? What incentive structures might encourage industry to better support the grid? How is industry thinking beyond just compliance and engaging with new innovations and strategies?

As cyber threats continue to grow, maintaining a secure grid will requires a comprehensive approach to securing the grid that runs across detection, monitoring, and response. How can regulators and industry leaders work together to improve threat intelligence and secure the whole supply chain in a collaborative way? Speakers will be challenge to collaborate on a comprehensive approach to securing the grid that encompasses the whole energy ecosystem and enables best practices.

A large scale attack on the cyber grid could lead to sustained power outages and also impact access to food and water, health care, and other critical needs. As a result, securing the electric grid has become an increasingly critical national security issue. How can utilities and federal agencies anticipate the timing and sources of potential attacks and work to prevent the potential repercussions of a successful cyber attack?