Dr. Klaus Kursawe is the Chief Scientist at the European Network of Cyber Security (ENCS), where he is leading the research and development activities for critical infrastructure security. In this interview he talks about the challenges related to smart grid security.
Do smart grid systems have enough security features? How can you reliably evaluate the security of such systems?
Security is not about features, it’s about overall good design. One general observation is that smart grid systems have a comparatively low security maturity, and that many approaches that work in the IT world cannot easily be translated for control systems. For example, while a normal PC almost continuously receives security patches, patching a safety-critical control system is a difficult undertaking.