Source: Elinor Mills, CNET.
When Joe Weiss goes to cybersecurity conferences, he rubs elbows with world dignitaries, law enforcement officials, and large corporations, but usually he’s the lone representative from the industrial critical infrastructures.
He’s been beating the security drumbeat for the utility industry and the others for at least 10 years, as previously isolated control systems at electrical and nuclear plants, electric substations, oil refineries, and water distribution centers are being modernized with direct connections to other systems and to the public Internet. The introduction of the smart grid is pushing old-school industrial control managers off a technological cliff and increasing the chances of problems. This is similar to the system glitch and subsequent stock plunge last week that was made possible by Wall Street’s move to high-frequency trading and electronic exchanges.
Joe Weiss, crusader for critical infrastructure security (Q&A)
Published: May 10, 2010