Let’s take a look at how cyber technology, such as the CrashOverride system that took down the grid in Ukraine, could impact the grid in the U.S. While we would need to feel comfortable living without electricity in the case of a natural disaster, we may need to worry less about the possibility of our power system being hacked by a sinister source.

How it works

Before electricity gets to your house, it goes through a couple steps first. It is generated — from things like fossil fuels, nuclear power, or renewable sources — and then goes through a transmission site before it is pushed out to your home.

CrashOverride targets the transmission site.

Although CrashOverride could be used for attacking other transmission sites, it is not a likelihood it would be used in the U.S., said Lee, who previously worked in the intelligence community. It's not easy to get the malware on the transmission site in the first place.

U.S. energy networks are segmented. So if someone launches an attack against business computers to try and steal credentials or places malware on a computer, it would not be able to jump to the machines controlling the grid.

A secure grid

The Wolf Creek nuclear facility in Kansas was one of the victims of this recent attack. The attacks did not impact operations at all because the operation systems were separate from the networks that were targeted.

The electric grid is resilient. If the grid in your city was hit with a cyberattack, it would bounce back quickly, Lee said. The actual impact — or time of electricity going out — would be a few hours.

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Are you concerned about the power grid being hacked in the U.S.? What tips do you have to prep for such an event?

Article Source: CNN