Department of Energy Releases Five-Year Infrastructure Plan to Protect Against Cyber-Attacks

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently released its five year plan to protect U.S. infrastructure against cyber-attacks.  The plan includes a detailed explanation of the new Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), which is tasked with helping keep the nation’s energy infrastructure safe from cyber-attacks, and contributing research to head off such attacks before they occur.

In a recently published letter dating back to March, DOE Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Bruce Walker explained, “The Plan outlines a gamechanging [sic] strategy for DOE, informed by the energy industry's highest-priority needs, which can continue to be built upon by CESER leadership.”

The plan lays out three goals to achieving its “OE Cybersecurity Strategy: Winning Today and Changing the Game for Tomorrow”:

• Strengthen Energy Sector Cybersecurity Preparedness
• Coordinate Cyber Incident Response and Recovery
• Accelerate Game-Changing RD&D of Resilient Energy Delivery Systems

But as Walker explains in the plan, “While the Plan outlines activities specifically for DOE, we look forward to conducting these efforts in close partnership with the energy industry and federal and non-federal partners throughout the nation.”

To view the full plan, click here: https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2018/05/f51/DOE Multiyear Plan for Energy Sector Cybersecurity _0.pdf