Smart Grid Security Blog Late Summer 2012 Navel Gazing

8/24 update: Realized the list of top 20 countries doesn't begin to convey the amount of international interest in Smart Grid Security, at least from what I can tell through visitor logs. In the last year there have been multiple visits each from over 100 countries ... what you you think of that?

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First, let me welcome to new SGSB subscriber HH, who pushes the number of folks who now read this blog primarily through an email feed well over 1,100. Thought I'd give readers, new and long suffering, who arrive via email, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn or trails of breadcrumbs, a feel for this community via a sanitized picture of fellow readers.

So without further adieu or drama, here are a few stats for you:

Blog start date: April 2009
Number of published posts: 410
Twitter subscribers (@sgsblog): 770

GridSec in Near Real Time - A Tale of the Tweets

This must be some type of social media sin, but I 'm building this post almost entirely out of Tweets I did from yesterday's GridSec conference. In reverse chronological order, they were:

• Attending Chris Blask's great ICS security panel. Good to see more attention to control system security at the conference this time#GridSec
• "Beyond AMI" panel co's include Waterfall, Cisco, McAfee, GE and AlertEnterprise at #GridSec
• At #GridSec, attempting Tweeting-while-moderating. A high wire act. But Beyond AMI panel off to good start with experts from 5 companies.
• #GridSec Infra security panel seems to concur that appropriate info sharing is security goal #1 for next few years
• #GridSec talk on sad topic: utilities won't report any attack that could earn them a compliance penalty, so helpful info doesn't get to help
• In the Security Infrastructure panel, ERCOT speaker said one key focus area needs to be situational awareness. #GridSec
• From #GridSec - linking security and safety in budget talks.
• Rea#GridSec conf. First session is CXO perspectives with Vermont Electric's CEO David Hallquist bringing his usual candor, energy and insight
• Tweeting from #GridSec conference this week http://bit.ly/HhIyj1

Have to keep this short for now, so only commentary I have on the above is that unless you have comprehensive situational awareness, (one speaker's suggestion), then information sharing isn't that big a priority, as you have little to share. Utilities, and any organization for that matter, have to know what's happening with their systems in order to detect, hopefully thwart, and also report this info so others can be on their guard.

Day 2 begins soon ...

Recipe for better teaming on outages

Three parts to this exciting new recipe. Mix together:

1. A large electric utility
2. A DOD service (or other large consumers)
3. Social network service

In this case, a major power outage became an opportunity for teaming, and here the local Navy base gets kudos for lowering demand, something that helped San Diego Gas & Electric restore power to all its customers in very short order.

Twitter facilitated comms in the early phases of the outage, and here, it enabled a high profile attaboy from the utility before an audience of over 18,000 (SDG&E Twitter followers). Hard not to like this.

2nd Smart Grid Security TwitterStorm Spotted

Social media storm chasers have identified this Wednesday afternoon (330 pm ET to be precise) as the likely time the next security related Smart Grid twitter discussion is likely to hit. The previous one, that I was involved in anyway, was last fall, and it was a pretty interesting and educational affair. See announcement HERE.

Subject this time will be the deployment of security controls at a US utility for two primary objectives:

1. To protect itself from potential attacks coming from outside, particularly the Smart Meters and AMI network it's been standing up for customers recently
2. To protect Smart Meter-enabled residential and commercial customers from potential attacks (or accidental, incorrect instructions) originating inside the utility or its systems

Please note, this will be an IBM-centric discussion so I'll be speaking/tweeting from the perspective of my day job using the Twitter ID: @IBMSmartrEnergy and to follow or participate in the conversation folks should use the Twitter hashtag: #IBMSG.

Looking forward to this event: please join in if your schedule allows. BTW I'll be using the TweetDeck app for this event and recommend you give it a try if you haven't already.

Too (Much) Smart: Meters, Grids, Cars, Phones

"Smart" in the electronics sector generally connotes a device with a processor and some built-in communications, though sometimes it's just meant to convey coolness. But as the media increasingly links "smart" with "dangerous", marketers may need to find another strategy soon.

Of course, this doesn't bode well for consumer adoption of Smart Meters and the Smart Grid. Angst is bubbling up in the ranks of those who leave comments below cautionary and increasingly inflammatory online articles. For example, here's a surprisingly coherent entry found beneath a recent post on looming cyber issues with "smart" cars:

If we're not careful, we'll end up changing the definition of the word "smart". "Smart" = dumb enough to be cracked and hacked. We'll have this issue with smart phones, smart cars, the smart grid, smart appliances, not to mention our regular computers.

He's right of course, and that's a big part of the challenge, along with the media's desire to document and propagate this assertion, and drive fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) deep into the mass market.

Like successful TV shows that eventually Jump the Shark (wander too far from their original concept), all marketing fads also eventually run out of steam, after which point they become comical if not pitiful. This will eventually happen (if it hasn't started already) with the prefix "smart" automatically placed in front of every new gadget and appliance.

And when that happens if not sooner, we might want to find a new term for what we now call Smart Grid. It's been called other things before; another name isn't going to hurt. And no, I don't think "Super Smart Grid" will do.

Photo credit: Ivan Walsh on Flickr.com

Smart Grid and V2G Weather Advisory: IBM Twitterstorm Coming

Many SGSB readers, though well versed and skilled in the ways of technology, might nevertheless say, "what the hell is a Twitterstorm?"

It's a fair question, and my simple answer is it's an online conversation and Q&A session between a bunch of folks, conducted 140 characters at a time. Maybe by haiku. This is no place for the verbose, and maybe because of that, it should be information dense and entertaining.

As the title of this post indicates, the central focus is on EVs, PHEVs and their interaction with today's grid and the emerging Smart Grid. The Smarter Planet folks at IBM are hosting it this coming Monday, September 20th, and you can see details HERE on how to join in on the fun.

Please make it if you can. No umbrella necessary.

Photo credit: LISgirl / Emily on Flickr.com

(BTW, for those of you unfamiliar with Twitter and Tweets, prior to this BTW note, this post consumed 651 characters not counting spaces. Twitter counts spaces. That's brevity.)