More worries about electricity

Last week I wrote about the massive power failures in India and questioned whether we were investing enough in our electricity infrastructure.  The GAO is concerned about cybersecurity in the electric industry.  In its most recent study of the matter, the following disturbing conclusions were made:

• A lack of a coordinated approach to monitor industry compliance with voluntary standards.
• Aspects of the current regulatory environment made it difficult to ensure the cybersecurity of smart grid systems.
• A focus by utilities on regulatory compliance instead of comprehensive security.
• A lack of security features consistently built into smart grid systems.
• The electricity industry did not have an effective mechanism for sharing information on cybersecurity and other issues.
• The electricity industry did not have metrics for evaluating cybersecurity.