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Cyber Attack Task Force - Final Report - NERC

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Executive Summary<br />

Key Recommendations<br />

The CATF has considered what aspects of cybersecurity would be particularly challenged<br />

through a coordinated cyber attack and considered options to protect the assets, systems, and<br />

networks that are critical to the reliable operation of the bulk power system. The following<br />

summarizes the key recommendations of this report that are described in the body of the<br />

report in further detail. While some of the recommendations identify areas that require further<br />

study coordinated through <strong>NERC</strong>’s Technical Committees, others recommend that entities take<br />

certain actions to enhance their ability to prevent, deter, detect, and respond to a coordinated<br />

cyber attack.<br />

1. Continue Work on <strong>Attack</strong> Trees – A separate working<br />

group under <strong>NERC</strong>’s Critical Infrastructure Protection<br />

Committee (CIPC) should be established to further<br />

develop attack trees with the goal of populating the<br />

nodes, performing detailed analysis, and providing<br />

recommendations to industry from this analysis.<br />

2. Continue to Develop Security and Operations Staff<br />

Skills to Address Increasingly Sophisticated <strong>Cyber</strong><br />

Threats – Entities should develop strategies to attract<br />

cybersecurity talent and further develop the<br />

knowledge, skills, and abilities of existing staff to<br />

address increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and<br />

technology challenges that accompany grid modernization efforts.<br />

3. Augment Operator Training with <strong>Cyber</strong> <strong>Attack</strong><br />

Scenarios – Several cyber attack scenario templates<br />

are included in Appendix C of this report. Entities<br />

should consider enhancing training to incorporate<br />

cyber attacks that raise operator awareness for a<br />

coordinated cyber attack.<br />

4. Conservative Operations – The Severe Impact<br />

Resilience: Considerations and Recommendations<br />

report prepared by the Severe Impact Resilience <strong>Task</strong><br />

<strong>Force</strong> offers a number of recommendations regarding<br />

conservative operations. Entities should review this<br />

report and consider the practices that would apply to<br />

a coordinated cyber attack scenario.<br />

5. Conduct Transmission Planning Exercise – Working<br />

with Department of Energy’s national labs and a pilot<br />

group of electricity utilities, a transmission planning<br />

exercise should be coordinated by <strong>NERC</strong> to simulate a<br />

coordinated cyber attack that creates a cascading<br />

event and blackout. The event should attempt to<br />

4 <strong>Cyber</strong> <strong>Attack</strong> <strong>Task</strong> <strong>Force</strong> <strong>Report</strong>

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