New Project Aims To Secure U.S. Power Grid

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Defense (DHS) have teamed up to create a cybersecurity model that can be tested and applied across the utility industry to provide insight into how to better protect the U.S. electricity grid.

The Electric Sector Cybersecurity Risk Management Maturity Model pilot project aims to work with experts in both the public and private sector to use existing cybersecurity strategies to develop a so-called "maturity model" that can identify how secure the electricity grid currently is from cyber threats, according to a White House blog post by White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt. It will then test that model with participating utility companies to see how well it works, he said.

Maturity models use best practices to identify strengths and weaknesses in an organization or system, and are used by industry sectors to improve performance, efficiency, and quality.

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