Protecting power grids: Why prioritization is more important than fences
A fence, a padlock, and a warning sign. That is what protects some of the facilities on which an entire region’s electricity supply depends.
SWR visited the network control center of Netze BW in Esslingen. Tellingly, eight years ago there was one expert responsible for emergency management.
Today, there are four – plus a dedicated position focused solely on sabotage protection.
CEO, Mirko Ross, highlights a point that is often overlooked: not every facility is equally important.
“The larger and more significant the facilities become, the more difficult it is for the network operator to compensate in the event of an incident.” His advice to policymakers is therefore not to “protect everything,” but to prioritize: “Is a fence still sufficient, or do we need to invest in security services, camera surveillance, and faster response times?”
Cyberattacks remain invisible
The same logic applies in the digital world – only cyberattacks are invisible until they happen. Anyone who does not know which systems are critical or which vulnerabilities are exposed is allocating their budget based on guesswork.
The KRITIS Umbrella Act sets the framework
The legal framework has already been established: Germany’s KRITIS Umbrella Act came into force in March. However, a legal ordinance still needs to define which facilities are considered critical. According to Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior, work on this is proceeding “at full speed.” Operators are therefore waiting for the official definition while already being expected to take action today.
In the meantime, what helps is prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their actual criticality – rather than working through a top-down checklist.
That is precisely what we are developing at asvin with our Cyber Threat Intelligence.
Watch the full report (German): Sabotage Attacks: How Well Are Germany’s Power Grids Protected?
Konrad Buck
Head of Press and Media Relations
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