In power management, there were lots of challenges when the things were completely manual, they started transforming with the advent of advanced automation, and now in the era of digitalisation most of the challenges are predictable, yet vulnerability is not a matter to take leniently. In other words, grid reliability has improved manifold and resilient systems have been in place almost everywhere, still what a planned cyber-attack can do that all of us can easily imagine. Thus, in one hand managing the power control systems have become very easy today, on the other hand keeping the control system healthy has stood as a big challenge in front of our power engineers.
Around one year back, in May 2019, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission constituted an expert committee, to look into this aspect in depth and suggest a revamp of the decades-old guidelines that our grids still follow blindly. The expert committee has already submitted its report in January this year. In that they have devoted one complete chapter on cyber issues or vulnerability of our grids to attack. Although, the committee has categorically stated the urgent need for installation of firewalls and taking other measures, so far no progress is visible in that direction. Also, we urgently need to set our post attack back up plan.
It is a proved and globally known news that China has been trying to hack the cyber systems of different big organisations globally, and I think I need not remind anyone about the ongoing bitterness in Sino-Indian relationship. So, we urgently need action to secure and strengthen our grids.
Publisher & Editor-In-Chief
