ENERGY

The energy sector has been undergoing a major transformation for several years now, and the smart grid will mark a historic technological evolution in this industry. Relying on an automated model made up of millions of interconnected monitoring or control points, can expose the entire energy sector to unacceptable risks if appropriate attention is not paid to cyber security issues, including access governance.

OKIOK’s experts have been invited to speak at several conferences on smart grid security and have carried out several assignments in the Utility sector in Canada and the United States to help clarify and implement best practices established under the NIST and Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) which provide a secure framework for smart grid development, as well as the CIP security standards imposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

In addition to security architecture design, OKIOK has specialized expertise in assessing security practices. Energy Suppliers may be entitled to grants related to network modernization using OKIOK’s security assessments for their commitments and obligations. OKIOK can also assist legal entities in ensuring that the requirements have been met by providers.

For example, OKIOK has been highly praised for a project completed for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) validating that the largest energy supplier of the United States conforms to NISTIR 7268 security practices.

The security program for a large local power company is based on security architecture and a five-year plan developed by OKIOK experts.

Moreover, OKIOK assisted a Canadian government agency that conducts research on energy efficiency, in securing communication protocols intended to intelligently control the energy consumption of household appliances.

OKIOK works with highly specialized partners to carry out various types of engagements in the energy field. In addition, OKIOK experts can perform vulnerability and reliability assessment of equipment (smart meters, among others) to verify that the hardware, communication protocols and management strategy are secure.