The power grid: the most critical of all critical infrastructures

A secure power supply has long since become a matter of course for our society. Energy security 24/7 is a must. Without electricity, manufacturing, mobility, communication, and trade are stopped in their tracks.  Accordingly, a reliable, affordable, and permanently available energy supply is considered the backbone of the industrialized world today. Yet, in addition to great opportunities for securing business locations, the ongoing digitalization of the energy sector also comes with considerable risk: energy systems are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

 

Fraunhofer Center for Digital Energy

Task

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A secure power supply is the backbone of every industrialized society, which is why power plants are among the critical infrastructures particularly worthy of protection. The Fraunhofer FKIE's contribution to the Fraunhofer Center for Digital Energy focuses on all aspects of its cybersecurity.

A successful cyber attack on electricity networks and power plants – probably the most critical of all critical infrastructures – would have far-reaching consequences not only for the targeted country but for the entire European Union economic area.

Such attacks are no longer mere fiction, but have been part of everyday life for companies in the energy sector for some time. Moreover, threats are no longer limited to individual hacker attacks, but have long since grown into full-scale offensive campaigns, as has been emphasized by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The need for cyber-secure, resilient energy systems is abundantly clear - not least or even more so against the backdrop of the energy transition. Indeed, the energy sector is currently undergoing a profound change: historically mature, independent infrastructures are transforming into an interacting, digitalized and automated overall system that tightly interconnects different sectors and stakeholders. A concerted approach by all responsible actors is therefore urgently required, as well as a reorientation of the research and industry sectors specialising in these areas, in order to:

  1. assure reliability of supply in the future,
  2. further promote digitalization and automation as an economic factor,
  3. improve the planning and operation of energy supply systems by means of digital twins
  4. to enable adequate countermeasures against the threat from cyberspace.

New Fraunhofer Center for Digital Energy

For this purpose the Fraunhofer FKIE, together with strong partners such as the Fraunhofer FIT and RWTH Aachen University have established the »Fraunhofer Center for Digital Energy« as a joint research project. The stakeholders are working together to address the diverse challenges in the field »securing the energy sector« in a more collaborative and interdisciplinary manner. The center bundles cross-domain competencies in the key areas of energy technology, digitalization, IT security and business.