Sen. Heinrich cosponsors legislation to protect energy grid from cyber attacks

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) co-sponsored the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act, which is aimed at protecting the U.S. energy grid from possible cyber attacks.

The legislation, introduced by U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), proposes employing a “retro” approach to protecting the grid. Under this strategy, devices such as computer-connected operating systems would be replaced with analog and human-operated systems, which are less vulnerable to cyber attacks.

“Cybersecurity is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation. The future of warfare is moving further away from the battlefield and closer to the devices and the networks everyday citizens depend on,” said Heinrich, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Protecting our nation from malicious cyber actors requires a comprehensive approach, and keeping our energy infrastructure secure is central to that.”

The bill was partially inspired by a 2015 cyber attack on Ukraine’s electrical grid. The attack left approximately 225,000 people without power but could have been much worse if Ukraine did not use manually operated equipment to operate its grid.

The legislation would establish a two-year pilot program within the National Laboratories to identify new classes of security vulnerabilities, and research and test technology, such as analog devices, that could be used to isolate the most critical systems from cyber attacks.

The bill would also establish a working group to evaluate the technology solutions proposed by the National Laboratories and to develop a national cyber strategy to isolate the energy grid from attacks. Members of the working group would include federal government agencies, the energy industry, a state or regional energy agency, the National Laboratories, and other stakeholders.

The introduction of the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act comes after the U.S. Department of Energy’s Quadrennial Energy Review warned that an extensive power outage caused by a cyber attack could risk the health and safety of millions.