The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued the second draft of its Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements, which now identifies more than 120 interfaces that will link diverse devices, systems and organizations engaged in two-way flows of electricity and information and classifies these connections according to the level of damage that could result from a security breach.
Prepared by the NIST-led Cyber Security Working Group, the new draft report expands upon an earlier preliminary version, which was released last September and underwent 60 days of public review. It incorporates responses to the more than 350 individual comments received.
The updated draft also includes new or more detailed technical inputs stemming from the working group's continuing assessment of what will be required to ensure the security and reliability of the entire modernized power system and protect the integrity and confidentiality of information exchanged during energy-related transactions on the Smart Grid.
The 300-page second draft of the Smart Grid cyber security document also will undergo public review, ending on April 2, 2010. After reviewing the comments received and completing ongoing analyses of requirements and relevant standards, the working group will finalize the Smart Grid cyber security strategy. NIST expects to issue a completed report by early summer.
Compared with the initial version, the draft cyber security report issued today contains significantly expanded sections on privacy, vulnerability categories, analyses of the potential security issues, and the overall approach to achieving Smart Grid cyber security. The 120 interfaces identified in the report pertain to high-priority Smart Grid applications, including electric transportation, electric storage, advanced metering infrastructure, distribution grid management, energy management in homes and businesses and grid management.
Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements (Draft NISTIR 7628) is a companion document to the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 1.0 (NIST SP 1108), which NIST issued on Jan. 19, 2010. The framework and roadmap report describes a high-level conceptual reference model for the Smart Grid, identifies 75 existing standards that are applicable (or likely to be applicable) to the ongoing development of an interoperable Smart Grid, and specifies a set of high-priority standards-related gaps and issues (in addition to cyber security).
Continuing work by the cyber security working group is carried out cooperatively under the umbrella of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP). NIST launched the panel in mid-November as a collaborative means for private and public sector stakeholders to provide input to the process. For more information, see the NIST Feb. 3 release "NIST Issues Expanded Draft of Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy For Public Review and Comment." To download the second draft, go to www.nist.gov/smartgrid.
To learn more about the SGIP, go to http://collaborate.nist.gov/twiki-sggrid/bin/view/SmartGrid.SGIP
