Fears of devastating cyber-attacks on electric grid, critical infrastructure grow.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

* Many remember Aug. 14, 2003 as the day the lights went out. The Great Blackout, as it is often called, left millions in the Northeast and parts of Canada in the dark for up to two days. Traffic lights went out, commuters were stranded in stalled subway trains, and hundreds of people were trapped in elevators.

In this case, a power line in Ohio malfunctioned after touching an overgrown tree branch, crippling the local electrical system and creating a domino effect of outages.

That massive blackout was a work of Mother Nature, but officials fear similar damage that could be caused by a cyber-attack on the electrical grid.

In her farewell speech, exiting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned that the United States faces "a major cyber-event that will have a serious effect on our lives, our economy and the everyday functioning of our society." Many experts worry that this looming cyber-attack could target the nation's power grid.

A massive cyber-attack on the nation's grid has been a top concern among those working in the industry for years. Experts have said that a sophisticated assault targeting electrical lines or power plants could wreak havoc far and wide, and effectively shut down the government and economy.

The question isn't if an attack will happen, but rather when, said Doug Myers, the chief information officer for Pepco Holdings Inc., an electrical company that serves parts of the Mid-Atlantic region.

"Utilities think about natural disasters as when, not if and we think about the threat of a cyber-event in the same manner. However, there are several key differences between a hurricane, for example, and a cyber-event," said Myers. "A hurricane comes with some degree of warning. Utilities typically begin their preparatory work days in advance ... [but] cyber-attacks are not expected."

While the electrical grid is vulnerable, industry has an opportunity to blaze trails in cybersecurity, said retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of both the CIA and National Security Agency.

The electric industry is one of the best places to test out new defenses, Hayden said in August at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

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"The electrical industry might actually be the trailbreakers here," said Hayden.

Utilities may be able to establish a precedence in the cyberdomain that would not only help it better defend its networks, but open the doors for better...