The five-alarm warnings that the Obama Administration issued last fall regarding an impending cybersecurity Pearl Harbor, along with the threat of a cybersecurity executive order, seem to have receded into the background as the President continues to grapple with fiscal woes and a politically arduous gun control initiative. When last we heard anything from reliable sources, that executive order was being readied for release in January (some press reports confirm this), although that seems highly unlikely given the political lay of the land and the hubbub over the inauguration.
But once the order does come out (or if Congress takes another crack at
passing cybersecurity legislation), the gargantuan challenge of figuring out the
existing cybersecurity landscape will become clear. I’ve been working on my firm’s first public
product (coming soon), a cybersecurity databook that promises to hit the
highpoints on the complex issue.
My first task in mapping out the book was to simply describe the cybersecurity
environment today, highlighting the roles of the major players and how the
ground rules get established. That was no
easy task.
When it comes to cybersecurity for the energy industry, for example, nearly
one hundred government-related entities, standard-setting bodies, private
coalitions, and trade associations, all have a hand in establishing or
influencing the intricate rules, policies and procedures for how cybersecurity
requirements and practices are formed, implemented, regulated and shared – and that’s
just on the domestic level. A massive set of groups and government organizations
are busy establishing cybersecurity practices and policies on the international
level.
I’ve pasted at the end of the article my list of government,
standards-setting and information-sharing groups that are profiled in the
report. (If there are any noteworthy
omissions in this list, email
me.)
At least 36 different government arms, be they affiliated with the
White House, Pentagon, independent regulatory agencies, full-fledged
Departments, sponsored labs, working groups, or advisory panels, toil away on
energy-related cybersecurity matters.
Some, of course, are more active on a day-to-day basis than others and
some, particularly those whose primary jurisdiction is telecommunications, only
tangentially but crucially overlap with energy.
Some, particularly military groups, may step in only periodically but
when they do, their roles carry a tremendous amount of weight. Some carry the force of law to get things
done, while others are merely conduits for basic research, advice and study.
At least 18 different standards-setting body develop or codify the technical specifications for the engineering methods and techniques for how cybersecurity is implemented in practice. Again, some are more important than others, with many primarily responsible for telecommunications standards – when it comes to energy, most of the networks that need cybersecurity protection the most are in fact nothing more than telecommunications or IP-based networks.
At least 18 different standards-setting body develop or codify the technical specifications for the engineering methods and techniques for how cybersecurity is implemented in practice. Again, some are more important than others, with many primarily responsible for telecommunications standards – when it comes to energy, most of the networks that need cybersecurity protection the most are in fact nothing more than telecommunications or IP-based networks.
Finally, at least eight information-sharing or multi-organization
groups play important roles in the energy cybersecurity arena.
With all these groups, comprising hundreds of bureaucrats, military
personnel, engineers, technologists and other specialists, trying to tackle the
rarefied topic of cybersecurity, it’s hard to see how any single plan or
program can come to grips with the issues.
Throw in nearly 10,000 energy creators, transmitters and distributors
and it’s clear that energy cybersecurity is nothing short of an endless
labyrinth
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Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. |
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