Subcommittee on Energy of the Committee

The Electricity Sector's Efforts to Respond to Cybersecurity Threats Subcommittee on Energy of the Committee

In December 2015, Russian state hackers successfully compromised the Ukraine's electric grid, shutting down multiple distribution centers and leaving more than 200,000 residents without power for their lights and heaters. That attack was premeditated and well-choreographed, with groundwork that pre-dated the full attack by many months. It was sophisticated and synchronized, taking down backup power supplies and jamming phone lines to keep operators unaware of the extent of damages. To date, it stands as the only recognized cyberattack to successfully take down a power grid. Ensuring the reliable supply of electricity is absolutely vital to the United States' national security. Across the country, electricity enables telecommunications, financial transactions, the transport and delivery of energy, and food, in addition to many other things. Electricity powers the infrastructure that delivers our drinking water. It enables businesses and industry to make and provide the goods and services of our modern society, and powers our hospitals and our households. Ensuring reliability is the central function of electricity grid operations, and a complex system has developed over time to ensure that the lights stay on. The integration into the system of new technologies, especially digital technologies, that are essential for keeping up with the nation's energy needs adds new vulnerabilities. What lessons can be learned from the attack on Ukraine's electric grid to make the U. S. electric grid more secure and utility workers more vigilant of cybersecurity threats? If Russia hacked the election, what's to stop them from hacking the electricity grid?