Bill urging ‘retro’ approach to securing power grid gets support in Senate

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WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 31: Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Angus King (I-ME) questions former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) during his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of defense on Capitol Hill January 31, 2013 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama nominated Hagel, a controversial choice as Hagel opposed former President George W. Bush and his own party on the Iraq War and upset liberals with his criticism of a gay ambassador, for which he later apologized. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A proposal from Maine Sen. Angus King (I) and Idaho Sen. Jim Risch (R) to protect the electric grid from cyberattacks by introducing more manual processes has cleared a procedural hurdle, getting support from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy.

The bill – originally proposed last year – asserts the smartest way to protect the energy grid is to dumb it down by replacing some automated systems managed by computers with manual processes that require human interaction.

After introducing the legislation in June 2016, King cited recent attacks on the Ukrainian electric grid, which were remediated by the fast action of technicians operating manual switches.

During a March 28 subcommittee hearing, King said the U.S. is looking at “the longest wind-up for a punch in world history” if it does not act on cybersecurity.

About 

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.