Alexandru Suditu is Infrastructure & Security Manager at ENEVO Group, having designed and implemented secure IT&C infrastructures from the ground up for companies in the energy sector. He delivered complete ITC hardware and software solutions for 2 Hydropower Plants, 4 turnkey Local Dispatch Centers for energy generation units and 14 Renewable Power Plants. Prior to joining ENEVO, Alex was a member of the Security and Risk Management Task-Force at European Central Bank, and engaged in a Proof of Concept for the European System of Central Banks concerning Change Management. Granted recognition as a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) by ISACA, holds a Master’s Degree in Information Security from Royal Holloway, University of London and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecom from Polytechnic University of Bucharest.

Evolution of threats to Electric Power Grid Operations

As Information Technology becomes more and more entwined with Operational Technology, the cybersecurity risks to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are constantly growing. ICS use specialized concepts such a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) or distributed control systems (DCS) to manage this process across large geographical areas. Most systems are based on off-the-shelf technologies therefor prone to some of the vulnerabilities of traditional Enterprise systems. We will be looking at the evolution of threat to Critical Infrastructures and Electrical Power Grid Operations by starting with a quick overview on the industry specific devices and architectures and have a closer look at the current level of technical craftsmanship in recent cyber-attacks.