Introduction
Buzzword bingo
Book overview and key learning points
Cyber security is big business today. Smart Grid is big business today. Therefore let’s put the two together and write a book? Well, surely there will be some individuals that may make that assumption as to the motivation behind the publication of this book. The real motivation behind the development of this book is because this is a very real issue, and the failure to address the cyber security risk within the Grid may have serious repercussions for every single one of us.
Our intention of course is not to use FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) as the business case for implementing cyber security measures to protect the Grid. However, there are potentially some very alarming ramifications should such measures fail to be implemented. This was highlighted with recent reports of stranded passengers on trains, traffic lights no longer working, and electric crematoriums shutting down with half-burnt bodies–only a small subset of the implications following recent power outages experienced at the end of July 2012 for almost 700 million Indian citizens.1 This is of course refers to one of the world’s worst power blackouts, which affected 20 of the 28 Indian states. Almost three weeks after the failure of three of country’s five electricity grids, the government provided a report to investigate the cause of the failure.
Included in the report was a section that focused on cyber security, which stated that “Grid disturbance could not have been caused by a cyber attack.” It does however acknowledge that the Grid could be impacted by cyber attacks in the future. The recognition of such an impact being caused by a cyber attack was also discussed in the United States, where at the same time the U.S. Cybersecurity Act was being debated:
“All one needs to do is look at what is going on in India today. There are no cyber problems there that I am aware of, but one-half of the country of India is without electricity today2” Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, said.
All of which leads us to the evolution to the modern grid, a world in which devices that are owned by end customers, Grid operators, and a multitude of other third parties are interconnected. Such devices have the potential of impacting the integrity and availability of the broader Grid unless appropriate controls are in place. Equally, the grid will process an unprecedented wealth of personal data, and so when we consider the potential security considerations of the Smart Grid, we must not lose sight of the privacy risks. To be clear, this is not an either or discussion. In other words, it is not a question of security or privacy, but the development of a Grid that considers both the security and privacy issues and implements controls to mitigate any risks.
Before the Smart Grid becomes ubiquitous, we have an opportunity to address these concerns by building controls into the design of such implementations. Unlike the world of cloud computing that is inundated with a plethora of standards resulting in confusion among customers and providers, operators have the opportunity to come out of recent disasters and provide confidence to their customers in their ability to provide a safe and secure service.
Book audience
As with the previous book, Industrial Network Security: Securing Critical Infrastructure Networks for Smart Grid, SCADA, and Other Industrial Control Systems, by one of this book’s authors, the goal here is to educate on concepts with just the right level of detail—enough to satisfy the more technical reader while keeping things simple enough to ensure that the important general concepts and ideas are not lost to those who are new to cyber security, the Grid, or both.
This was done because, like the Smart Grid itself, those interested in Smart Grid security are diverse and varied. Electrical engineers, line technicians, cyber security professionals, IT administrators, utility operators, service providers, and many other professionals will have an interest in the cyber security concerns of the Smart Grid. Therefore, every effort was made to accommodate a very wide range of knowledge and skills. If there’s anything that’s too simple or too complicated for you as the reader, the authors are readily available on twitter using the handles @CyberGridBook, @ericdknapp, and @Raj_Samani and are eager to answer questions, address concerns, and extinguish flames.
Diagrams and Figures
The network diagrams used throughout this book have also been intentionally simplified and have been designed to be as generic as possibly while adequately representing the systems that interconnect to form what we think of as the Smart Grid. While this means that some diagrams lack specific detail, it was felt that this was necessary in order to prevent confusion and distraction. The Smart Grid is simply too complex, broad, and diverse in both scale and scope to treat otherwise. Unfortunately, as a result, the diagrams will undoubtedly differ from “real” Smart Grid network designs and may exclude details specific to one particular implementation while including details that are specific to another.
What’s in the Book
The book is divided into eight chapters, with the intention to provide the information in a particular flow. Starting with a high-level discussion of what the Smart Grid is followed by a more detailed architectural discussion of how it is built, specific vulnerabilities and exploits of the Grid, and how to protect both the Grid and the supply chain used to build it. The book ends with some predictions of the future that may or may not be correct, but which will hopefully inspire some thought about where we’re headed. Of course, there is no prerequisite to follow our approach, but many of the later chapters do reference information presented earlier in the book. Where possible, we call out these references to make easier to follow a particular topic independent of the chapters, which are as follows:
Chapter 1: The Smart Grid Defined
The purpose of this chapter is to describe the Smart Grid and outline its key components. This is important, as it sets the foundation for the proceeding chapters, and will begin to introduce some of the many acronyms that are typical with the Smart Grid.
Chapter 2: Architectural Details
Following the description of the Smart Grid, this chapter is intended to technically describe the network architecture behind generation, transmission, and distribution. It also considers some of the protocols in use within the Smart Grid.
Chapter 3: Attack Vectors
The purpose of Chapter 3 is to introduce the cyber security risks that are likely to affect the various components of the Smart Grid. In particular, it looks to consider the various components and describes the threats specific to each component.
Chapter 4: Privacy Concerns
Although the book is entitled cyber security, there are some considerable privacy related risks associated with the Smart Grid. This chapter intends to present some of the threats to user privacy that exist within the Smart Grid, as well as some recent research activities that may affect user confidentiality.
Chapter 5: Security Models for SCADA, ICS, and Smart Grid
There exist distinct technical zones within a Grid operator, typically such zones have led isolated lives with their own architecture and staff to run and manage assets within these zones. This chapter considers the composition of these zones, and how in today’s world threats pay no heed to this air-gapped model.
Chapter 6: Securing the Smart Grid
After considering the threat landscape, and the various risks to the Smart Grid from a security perspective, this chapter asks what controls should be deployed, and how should they be configured? Once security controls are in place, how do you manage those controls deployed through a system as complex as a Smart Grid? This chapter looks at the concept of security controls and countermeasures, as well as how to leverage these and other tools to obtain situational awareness to ensure that everything in the Smart Grid is working as expected.
Chapter 7: Securing the Supply Chain
There is a very old adage that security is only as strong as its weakest link. This is never more true when we consider the number of potential suppliers to the Grid, not only in terms of providing hardware and software but also organizations providing services. This chapter will consider the key third parties that will work within the Grid, and some of the mechanisms used within industry to manage potential risks from the supply chain.
Chapter 8: The Future of Smart Grid Cyber Security
This chapter really is our opportunity to get out our crystal balls (no pun intended!) and propose how we see the Grid in the future, as well as some of the cyber security and privacy considerations that we have to implement to ensure that all of us have a secure, and fully available energy network in the future.
Appendices: Reference Architectures and Recommended Reading
Some of the security models, diagrams, and architectures referenced throughout the book, as well as recommendations for further reading, have been included in the Appendices for your convenience.
What’s NOT in the book
The thing with the cyber threat is that it constantly evolves. Consider that just over 10 years ago the most sophisticated piece of malware attempted to trick people into opening an e-mail with the promise of a picture of tennis star Anna Kournikova, and less than 10 years later malware was apparently (and allegedly) targeting the nuclear facilities in Iran and with success. Incidentally, just to set the record straight there is no intention to discuss this particular threat, which for the sake of clarity, we will name here: Stuxnet. Henceforth within this book, the term will be avoided or, if unavoidable, censored. This of course may sound a little strange, but it has been covered so much, and quite frankly any serious discussions about protecting the Grid are railroaded by endless conversations and speculations about this one attack, and who was behind it. Who cares? We are not Sidney Poirot, but security professionals aiming to provide some real-world advice on how to implement cyber security controls to protect against threats that have come out in the most current timeframe, while also helping you be prepared for threats in the future. Therefore, we’ll treat the term like a bad word and will avoid its use at the risk of punishment: if you ever hear either of us (the authors) mention the word St****t from this point on, then you have the authority to remind us of this paragraph and demand five dollars or pounds, depending on who you bump into!
Despite the rumors, conjecture about attribution, media hype, and general oversaturation in the news, we do need to consider the technical advancement of these types of threats. Specific threats are a proof point, but what this means is that the overall threat is constantly evolving, and in this constant cat-and-mouse game between the good guys and bad guys (okay a very general over-simplification), these eight chapters should provide a starting point for a process that implements security and privacy controls throughout the Smart Grid.
References
1. Huffingtonpost.com. India power outage: 620 million people affected by one of the world’s biggest blackouts; July 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/india-power-outage_n_1722356.html> [cited October 2012].
2. The Economic Times. Hackers can cripple India’s power grids; August 2012. <http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-08-02/news/33001456_1_cyberattack-power-grids-blackout> [cited October 2012].