Renewables Grid Giga-boost: Google and Friends Commit to Fund Undersea Wind Power

Not just offshore, mind you, but offshore and under water.  We're talking high voltage transmission lines in the deep blue sea off the USA's east coast mid section. If you're thinking this is another green jobs initiative from the current administration, you're wrong. It's the private sector doing what it does best: seeing a problem, doing some analysis, realizing it's an opportunity, and putting some skin in the game despite known and quantified risks.

Covered in all the major news outlets today, including the WSJ, this is great clean tech news as well as energy security news. Here's why:

• It's a win for renewables as it'll now be much easier and cheaper (and therefore, much less risky) to deploy big offshore wind turbines 
• It's a win for energy security as one of the most congested parts of the national grid will have more pathways and options for routing electricity, especially in the NY/NJ region
• This should help the perpetually stalled Cape Wind project get out of the blocks. If folks down south can pull off a wind infrastructure project of this magnitude, how come forward looking, business minded, PhD-educated, renewables friendly northerners have been arguing about this modest first step for 10+ years with nothing to show for it? Wind energy in Massachusetts is in danger of being OBE - overcome by current events

For me, the second point on energy security is also a boost for Smart Grid security. Absent hostile submarines with cable cutter-enabled frog men, this transmission addition will give grid operators more room to breath, even as it makes it more likely they'll be figuring out how to best manage gigawatts of new intermittent power over the next several years. We'll be relying on more technology to handle this challenge of course - here's to ensuring it's developed and deployed with security in mind: up front, built in, and by design.

Cyber Security Car Talk

Though I'm writing you from the land of Click and Clack, this piece is about a topic you'll probably not hear covered on their show. CNET journalist Elinor Mills, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the first Smart Grid Cyber Security Summit in San Jose in August, recently keyed: "Cars, the next hacking frontier." And as electric cars (and cars in general) have been on my mind lately, this really caught my eye.

As we've noted in previous posts, there are some surprising similarities in the ways previously isolated systems are being (often wirelessly) connected in the electric and automotive sectors. For most consumers, computers + code + communications = fun. But for security watchdogs, these same elements = trouble. And ultimately, cars and the grid will marry (and their coupling will produce precocious new security challenges) in a space industry calls V2G - meaning Vehicle-to-Grid.

Elinor links to an earlier CNET article of hers, "Hacking a Car", in which Stefan Savage of UC San Diego invokes history to make the connection:

If you look at PCs in the early 1990s, they had all kinds of latent software vulnerabilities. It didn't matter so much because PCs were at home and not connected to everything else. Then they were connected to the Internet and the latent vulnerabilities were exposed to outside attack. We see cars moving in much the same direction. There is a strong trend to provide pervasive connectivity in cars going forward. It would be good to start working on hardening these systems and providing defenses before it becomes a real problem.

And so it begins. I've begun research for a white paper on vehicle and V2G cyber security which I will try to have ready in early 2011, if not before 2010 is through. What's the motivation?  Here's how one gloomy CNET commenter cast it:

Someday the cyber terrorists will strike, locking everyone into their cars and disabling the engines, thus ensuring a swift and bloodless invasion of the United States. Then it will be up to the Amish to defend the country. We is doomed ..." 

I beg to disagree on three counts:

1. The Amish are tougher than you think.  See this short clip on Amish Rake Fighting
2. Bikers are even tougher than the Amish, and they won't be locked out
3. We're going to figure the security angles out up front and make sure cars remain as safe or safer than they are today -- though I'm not sure how safe that is

Photo credit: TechnaBob.com

New SGSB Webcast is Live

SGSB Webcast 5: Smart Grid Software Security

View more webinars from Andy Bochman.

While it's fun to think of all the great new gadgets and devices that are enabled by the Smart Grid (and that the Smart Grid enables), none of them could even begin to work without the "invisible glue" out of which the entire enterprise is being constructed: software.

As we rush to deploy Smart Meters by the millions, consumer portals, HANs and iPad applications that can communicate with them, meter data management systems (MDMS) to handle the tons of data that's generated, electric vehicles (EVs) to push local electric infrastructures to the limit, and synchrophasers across the continent to give us a better view of "the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century", it's important to not forget about software just because we often can't see it.

Misconfiguration of software assets and (usually unintentional) vulnerabilities in code are the primary pathways hackers use to breach systems, alter their behavior and reach sensitive data. This presentation is more of a "why to" than a "how to" manual. There are plenty of the latter and I'd be happy to point you to some. But the reasons for taking on this challenge are compelling, and IMHO, need to get out.  

Enough already, here you go. It's about 17 minutes long, and you'll like it better if you make it bigger (click on "Full" icon in the lower righthand corner).

Smart Grid Vendor Universe Charted

Thanks to David Leeds and his Smart Grid team at GreenTech Media (GTM) for building this novel and helpful view of the Smart Grid vendor world. In this end-to-end view, some companies are listed once; others have entries in multiple offerings categories.. (Click on image above for larger view) or follow THIS LINK to get more info on the report and see a larger, hi rez version of the map.)

I note the listing of primarily boutique outfits in the security column. I've had experience with all of them and can report that all are solid. It's been my experience that the bigger outfits with significant, more scalable security capabilities in other sectors are working on tuning their offerings to the energy space and are at varying stages of maturity in this effort. In coming weeks will try to ferret out more info from GTM and the other analysis firms covering Smart Grid security to get a more comprehensive view for you.

(Updated) Stuxnet Update IV: Targeted OT Attacks Risk Collateral Damage

Sep 30 Update: Stuxnet takes out an Indian Satellite? See Jeff Carr's article in Forbes.com

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Hat tip to IBM cyber defenders and watchdogs Scott Warfield, Brooks La Gree and others for pointing out these several articles. All followed Ralph Langner's revelations that he and his small cyber forensics team in Germany seem to have found the smoking gun ... the code that tells you what Stuxnet is really after.

I won't ruin the surprise; you'll get your answer when you click on any of the following links. But I'll give you a clue: it's the SCADA/ICS (OT/Operational Technology) in a system that's bigger than a breadbasket. And sometimes it glows.

In ascending order of technical sophistication, here are some links to get you educated right quick:

CNET
PC World
DIGITAL BOND
LANGNER

One of the hundred questions I have is whether the folks who built this beast intended (or realized) that it would have impacts far beyond its initial target. And whether that mattered. Or if it was intentional and the scope is larger than it might at first appear. And what's next. And and and ....

And then there's this, from another Langner dispatch just in:

The analysis that Langner has conducted shows that it is not technically difficult to inject rogue ladder logic into PLC programs. It is important to understand that this vulnerability cannot be considered a bug, either technically or legally, so it should not be expected that vendors would be able to release a “patch”. 

Nice, huh? Stay tuned.

Photo credit: ViZZZual.com on Flickr.com

Blazing EV and V2G Trails at the Texas State Fair 2010

You know we try to keep it calm here, but what an incredible experience I just had !!!  Just returned from a week in the Lone Star State speaking in Dallas and Houston, then back to Dallas again, the second time for the Electric Vehicle (EV) Showcase just around the corner from Big Tex. Man, was it worth the flight back to Love Field, and not just for the fried butter and fried beer.

On the first day I got to meet spokes-model (and true product expert) Alicia, then take the Volt (they had three on hand) for a spin on a curvy test track. I loved the way it looked, sounded and handled. A well-informed Chevrolet-rep named Brian gave me plenty of good details before during and after the drive, and I felt that many others like me will feel comfortable welcoming this car, that on most days will consume no gasoline, into their lives.

Now's here's a few details from the Executive Panel on day two to give you a broader look at what's going on behind the scenes to pave the way for this (plug-in hybrid) electric car and others like it. A panel moderated by Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) chairman Barry Smitherman included leadership from GM, IBM, Texas transmission and distribution utility Oncor, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and construction firm Beck. Here are some highlights of what they discussed:

• EPRI is working three main focus areas at present: 1) understanding consumer attitudes and expectations re: EV's, 2) early preparation of EV charging infrastructure, and 3) ensuring adequate utility infrastructure, particularly distribution transformers
• Texas is one of the initial wave of seven states for Volt deliveries in late 2010, starting in Austin then fanning out from there. In 2011, expect to see Volts available for sale in all 50 states
• Oncor sees two critical EV roll-out success factors: 1) the practice of off-peak (night-time) charging, and 2) early (and I do mean early) notice to utility co's when an individual is considering the purchase of an EV
• IBM is all about the information layer surrounding EVs and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) infrastructure and is looking at it 3 ways: 1) knowing how much energy from renewable sources is available at any time, 2) how utilities can have access to enough right info to know how much they need to spend on infrastructure, and 3) market and business-related IT that helps consumers as much as possible, particularly enabling ease of use, as well as providing national standards running from the charging points to the cars to the utilities themselves
• To help move 18 Gigawatts of clean wind energy, the moderator noted that Texas is spending $5 billion to run high voltage transmission lines hundreds of miles from windy west Texas to its cities
• Here's one I hadn't thought of before ... it's kind of subtle. According to EPRI, range anxiety is eased by the presence of charging stations outside the home and business, whether EV drivers use them or not
• The electricity required to go a full 40 miles in a Volt costs about $1.10
• Finally, the best part from national security security as well as environmental/climate points of view: most Americans drive 20 or fewer miles per day. The great majority drive fewer than 40 miles on work days as well as weekends. When these folks drive Volts, they are going to be using gasoline only rarely. Think about what that means when the number of Volts, Volt 2.0's and other EVs hit the roads in the millions and tens of millions

In keeping with this blog's security focus, are there going to be cyber security issues with these software-centric, wireless-enabled cars running on rapidly assembled IT and OT networks?  You bet, and we'll get to those soon. But for the time being, just wanted to note that it's a privilege to be alive at this moment, watching so many talented, creative, energetic and caring people pull out all the stops to help change our world in ways it sorely needs.

And I'll leave you with this nugget from a sign you pass upon entering the incredible Cowtown Diner in downtown Forth Worth:

     Never ask a man if he's from Texas.
     If he is, he's most likely already told you.
     If he's not, there's no use in embarrassing him

Photo: Volt dashboard power display

The Smart Grid for Intellectuals: Replay of Webinar for the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

Just did the intro piece on the Smart Grid for an audience of mainly patent attorneys interested in Smart Grid-related intellectual property (IP)  issues and litigation trends.

Titled, "Intellectual Grid: Intellectual Property Issues in Smart Grid Innovations" this 60-minute presentation won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for folks on either side of the Smart Grid IP technology (and maybe new business process) table, this may be quite helpful.

If you're game, click HERE to register and view.

Photo credit: "Brain Coral" by Laszlo Ilyes on Flickr.com