- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Ukraine Power Grid Hacking: Could it Happen in the United States?

| Spring 2016

In December, a portion of the Ukrainian power grid was hit with a cyber attack. The perpetrators wiped data from SCADA systems (the industrial controls behind power grids), disrupted power to tens of thousands of customers, and blinded grid operators with an attack against the power company’s phone systems.

Could such an attack happen in the U.S.? To get to the facts about this attack and its implications, Michael Sulmeyer, director of the Belfer Center’s Cyber Security Project, hosted a discussion in February with industry experts Robert Lee, CEO of Dragos Security and former U.S. Air Force Cyber Warfare operations officer, and Mudge, founder of the Cyber Independent Testing Laboratory, with previous experience as a DoD official for DARPA and Deputy Director of Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects Division.

Lee and Mudge noted that while the American grid has some impressive resiliency features, many of the individual components are surprisingly fragile. SCADA systems, Mudge said, were never designed for security. An attack in the U.S. could easily cause isolated failures, though not system-wide grid failure. However, restoring power after a widespread disruption would be difficult due to the complexity of bringing the entire grid back online.

Going forward, the panelists agreed that stakeholders need incentives to shift from reactionary “firefighting” to preventive measures. Additionally, both government officials and users need to be empowered to recognize threats and vulnerabilities, as well as to make informed decisions about security products and practices that make systems more reliable and resilient.

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Zetter, Olivia. Ukraine Power Grid Hacking: Could it Happen in the United States?.” Belfer Center Newsletter (Spring 2016).

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