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http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=38319
By Jill R. Aitoro
Govexec.com
October 18, 2007
Current regulations to protect the control systems that support power
plants nationwide fall short of federal recommendations, posing a
serious threat to the electric infrastructure and national security,
witnesses testified at a hearing Wednesday. One lawmaker threatened
legislation if standards don't improve.
The hearing before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging
Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology was prompted by a
simulation that highlighted vulnerabilities in the computers that run
water, power and chemical plants. In the March Aurora Generator test,
researchers from the Idaho National Laboratories created a video for the
Homeland Security Department simulating a cyberattack on a power plant's
control system. The attack caused a generator to self-destruct.
"If this administration doesn't recognize and prioritize these problems
soon, the future is not going to be pretty," said Rep. Jim Langevin,
D-R.I., chairman of the subcommittee.
The government and industry experts who testified cited flaws in
regulations set by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
Certified as the electric reliability organization by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission on July 20, 2006, NERC is charged with improving
the reliability and security of the bulk power system in North America
through the development and enforcement of reliability standards.
Recognizing weaknesses in these standards, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology released recommendations of its own for the IT
security of networked digital control systems used in industrial
applications.
"NERC reliability standards [are] less stringent guidelines than [those
offered in the] NIST guidance," said Greg Wilshusen, director of
information security issues at the Government Accountability Office.
"They do not provide the level of standard, mandatory protection
required."
Specifically, NERC standards focus on the bulk power system as a whole,
but don't properly address the threat of regional outages or the
security of the IT components that support the electric grid, Langevin
said. By contrast, the System Protection Profile for Industrial Control
Systems developed by NIST in collaboration with private sector
organizations presents a cross-industry, baseline set of security
requirements for new industrial control systems that vendors and system
integrators can use. Government has not yet enforced the adoption of
these requirements.
"Why [NERC] would have standards below NIST is beyond me," Langevin
said. "This is something we're going to [pay] close attention to;
perhaps legislation will be required."
DHS has been collaborating with electric companies to improve security
measures, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released
standards in July 2007 that would further guard systems by mandating the
creation of security plans and controls. But testimony from Greg Garcia,
assistant secretary of the Office of Cybersecurity and Telecommunication
at DHS, left members of the subcommittee concerned about a lack of
government oversight.
"We rely on the industry sector leads to collect information on the
percentage of industry that has implemented ... recommendations," Garcia
said, when asked about industry adoption of improved processes. He
suggested that the subcommittee ask FERC for more comment.
Langevin said Homeland Security should be "more proactive to make sure
that [recommended standards] are actually implemented."
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