Utility conference ponders Islamic State, a mysterious attack and other threats

PHILADELPHIA — Headlines from a daylong briefing on cyberthreats to the electric power grid:

• The Islamic State group is now using the Internet to launch cybersecurity attacks at U.S. targets.

• The startling April 2013 sniper assault that knocked out a Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s Metcalf substation is looking like the work of an insider.

• In just a year, the number of cyberattacks using sophisticated concealment techniques tripled, to 90 percent.

• But on the other side: A cybersecurity defensive screen developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has achieved a “breakthrough” in threat detection for U.S. electric power companies.

As speaker followed speaker at the conference here yesterday, hosted by the North American Electric Reliability Corp., the evidence mounted of an escalating arms race between attackers and their targets that is compelling government and private-sector defenders to stand together closer than ever before.

Caitlin Durkovich, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for infrastructure protection, warned that U.S. critical infrastructure was a terrorist target. The Islamic State group “is beginning to use the Internet, and to perpetrate cyberattacks, and they understand the importance of critical infrastructure,” she told the NERC conference. Other experts said terrorists aren’t believed to have the technical capability to take down parts of the grid. For the full article click here

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