Russia's war pushes security collaboration

For years now, there have been calls for closer collaboration between utilities and the government on cyber security. Urgency on the matter shot up five years ago when the Russian government got through the OT systems of several electric companies. And again last year, when Russian hackers carried out a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline. Yet still, there was little significant progress made between the government and utilities. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine seems to have provided the impetus for comprehensive security collaboration between the power industry and the federal government. As it’s pointed out in this recent Washington Post article: 

“In February, as Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border, executives with a major energy firm here worked with U.S. energy and homeland security officials to draw up a playbook and help prepare the electricity sector to deal with potential cyberattacks by Russia.”

At this point, about 60 percent of electric customers in the country are served by providers who’ve promised to use commercial cyberthreat sensors in their OT networks. That number represents a drastic improvement over a few years ago, but it still leaves plenty of unguarded service area for malicious actors.