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Twelve of ABB’s utility partners have formed a consortium spanning two continents to privately fund advanced research and testing into securing supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems that protect the nation’s electric grid.

The formation of this consortium demonstrates the importance we have placed on cyber security,” said Stephen Diebold, manager real-time systems at KCP&L and chairman of the consortium. “Having access to the incredible assets at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) provides the consortium the ability to test a wide range of potential cyber security vulnerabilities.”

ABB was the first SCADA vendor to partner with the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (DOE/OE) through its National SCADA Test Bed (NSTB) program presence at INL. Work began in 2003 to perform cyber security assessments for ABB network manager SCADA/EMS product. Results from that initiative have led to recommendations for security upgrades and improvements, many of which have already been implemented.

“ABB’s ongoing collaboration with DOE/OE’s NSTB has been critical to our continued improvements in providing the best security to customers,” said Phil Beekman, EMS security coordinator in the network management unit of ABB. “At every stage, DOE/OE has encouraged utility participation, but this consortium goes well beyond our previous efforts. It provides the opportunity for the end users to control the topics to be investigated. The expertise in this group will enable the research activities to be more relevant and productive than ever before, and we thank DOE/OE and INL for their continued support.”