Commentary 1
The electricity sector is vulnerable to attacks. According to Miller (2002), the increasing need of a competitive market in the electricity industry has resulted in an increased level of market transparency. This has made it easy to access operating information regarding power stations publically. The increased ability to access such information makes it easy for hackers to obtain information such as power demands, power supplies, and operating plans. According to GAO (2012), security weaknesses were identified in the corporate network of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which is the largest public power company. Further, there were electric power disruptions in various areas overseas because of malicious activities against IT systems and networks (GAO, 2012). There are also reports of smart meter attacks, which resulted in increased power thefts (GAO, 2012). Phishing attacks targeting the energy sector have also been experienced. The department of homeland security indicates it deployed incident response teams to an electric bulk provider attributed to phishing attacks, in 2011 (GAO, 2012).
Commentary 2
Islanding is vital as it introduces the concept of decentralization in terms of power generation. Thus, in cases of disruptions or terrorist attacks, power can still be obtained from the areas that have not been attacked. The development of islands ensures that the system can be quickly restored in case of a disruption (Haibo, Vittal, and Zhong, 2003). If the power is obtained from a central location, attacks may cause a complete lack of power for a wider area. According to Schlesinger (2009), islanding assists in isolating critical loads from the main grid.
References
GAO, (2012). Cybersecurity Challenges in Securing the Electricity Grid Retrieved from
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB424/docs/Cyber-074.pdf
Haibo, Y., Vittal, V., & Zhong, Y. (2003). Self-Healing in Power Systems: An Approach Using
Islanding and Rate of Frequency Decline-Based Load Shedding. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 18(1), 174.
Schlesinger, J. R. (2009). More Fight -- Less Fuel: Report of the Defense Science Board Task
Force on DoD Energy Strategy. Washington, D.C.: DIANE Publishing.
Miller, D. (2002). Terrorism: are we ready? Huntington, N.Y.: Nova Science.
