After the North Carolina attacks, acoordinating council between the electric power industry and the federal government ordered a security evaluation. NERC reliability standards call for a risk-based approach in the implementation of physical security safeguards that include access Control, key cards, alarms, and roving security. Automated Cyberattack Prevention and Mitigation, DOE Announces $45 Million for Next-Generation Cyber Tools to Protect the Power Grid | Department of Energy. The energy industry is vulnerable. The next administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could make response and recovery planning a priority. According to reporting by Politico, there have been 101 physical and cyber attacks on equipment that delivers electricity nationwide just through August of 2022, which is . Thus, some form of rate relief is needed to encourage significant investments in cybersecurity. The U.S. electricity grid is really three interconnected transmission grids covering the contiguous United States, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. 2022 Ukraine cyberattacks - Wikipedia Ukraine says it thwarted Russian cyberattack on electricity grid Rapid digitization combined with low levels of investment in cybersecurity and a weak regulatory regime suggest that the U.S. power system is as vulnerableif not more vulnerableto a cyberattack as systems in other parts of the world. As the lead federal agency for the energy sector, DOE has developed plans to implement a national cybersecurity strategy for protecting the grid. DOE labs have also funded research projects on the specific cybersecurity needs of utilities. Im not at all surprised this happened Im surprised its taken this long.. A power plant employee adjusts the wiring of a power unit in North Texas. It said it was actively cooperating with the FBI. The attacks have prompted a flurry of calls to better protect the nation's power grid, but experts have warned for more than three decades that stepped-up protection was needed.