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Electric utilities around the world are digitizing operations and increasing the interconnectedness of their systems to gain efficiencies. At the same time, cyberattacks on energy infrastructure are escalating.

It’s not a secret that there is much concern about the fact that the quickly evolving threat landscape is outpacing protection measures and defenses in the energy sector and notably in the power grid.

One thing cybersecurity specialists agree on: There are no shortcuts or easy ways to address this problem. Electricity grids are complex infrastructures that have been deployed during the last few decades. These grids are far more than generating stations, high voltage transmission lines, transformers and finally distribution lines that connect individual customers.

The overall architecture of the grid includes seven different components which interact at different levels. These seven components are key determiners regarding the ability of the power grid to change to address technical, operational, cybersecurity, market, regulatory or end-customer requirements:

  • Electric component
  • Control component
  • Digital component
  • Convergent networks
  • Regulatory component
  • Coordination framework

The traditional power grid system is centralized and radial, where power is generated and delivered from one end to the other. This infrastructure wasn’t designed with cybersecurity in mind.

The big challenge now is how engineers can shape the grid’s digital evolution to cope with this salient, dynamic threat landscape.

Want to learn more? Tonex offers Electric Grid Cybersecurity Master Certification, a 4-week course that provides technical instruction on the protection of electric and smart grid systems using offensive and defensive methods. Tonex certifies individuals and provides various levels of active professional certification in electric power and smart grid.

Additionally, Tonex offers nearly three dozen more courses in Cybersecurity Foundation. This includes cutting edge courses like:

Automotive Cybersecurity Training (3 days)

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Training (2 days)

Network Security Training (2 days)

Software Security Training (2 days)

ICS Cybersecurity Training (4 days)

For more information, questions, comments, contact us.

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