DHS Warns Hackers Zeroing In on Power Industry Networks

On January 8, 2013, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that cyberattacks on America's electricity and power infrastructure — such as natural gas pipelines, power plants and the electric grid — increased nearly threefold in 2012.

In 2011, the power sector reported 31 cyberattacks on its infrastructure, while the DHS's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team indicated the number of incidents in fiscal 2012 was 82. Incidents reported to DHS by the energy sector accounted for nearly half of the cyberattacks reported by all sectors to the agency in 2012. The report from DHS can be accessed here.

Cybersecurity was a major topic of interest in Washington, D.C. during 2011 and 2012, and it will remain so in the 113^th Congress, especially for the energy and electricity sectors. Legislation was introduced in the Senate in February 2012 to address the threat of hackers and cyberterrorists perpetrating attacks on critical infrastructure networks that are essential to commerce, public safety and security. One of the most controversial elements of the legislation was the requirement that covered sectors, such as utilities, comply with mandatory standards in order to minimize the risks and impacts of such an attack.

In response to concerns from industry, the leaders of the Senate measure drafted a revised bill that did not give the federal government authority to impose mandatory standards on major sectors of the economy. However, Congress was not able to reach a consensus on this and other issues, and so the revised bill failed to win approval of the Senate. Proponents of legislation then began lobbying the Obama administration to address elements of the legislation through an executive order. The administration has been hard at work on such an executive order for several months and is expected to finalize it in the near future. Furthermore, proponents of cybersecurity legislation are expected to try passing legislation again this Congress. All of this ensures that cybersecurity will remain a high-visibility issue in 2013 and beyond.