Department of Energy Launches Initiative with Industry to Better Protect the Nation’s Electric Grid from Cyber Threats

As part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to enhance the security and reliability of the nation’s electrical grid, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced an initiative to further protect the electrical grid from cyber attacks.

The “Electric Sector Cybersecurity Risk Management Maturity” project, a White House initiative led by the Department of Energy in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will leverage the insight of private industry and public sector experts to build on existing cybersecurity measures and strategies to create a more comprehensive and consistent approach to protecting the nation’s energy delivery system. The initiative will develop a “maturity model” that allows utility companies and grid operators to measure their current capabilities and analyze gaps in their cyber defenses. Maturity models, which rely on best practices to identify an organization’s strengths and weaknesses, are widely used by other sectors to improve performance, efficiency and quality.