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Utilities’ Cyberdefenses Need to be Strengthened, Warns Connecticut Regulator

"There will be a cyberattack on our utilities," said the chairman of the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

(TNS) — Connecticut's utilities are likely to be targets of cyberattacks by computer hackers and the state needs to "wake up, strengthen our defenses and prepare to manage the consequences," a top state regulator warned Thursday.

Arthur H. House, chairman of the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, told business leaders that he is often "amazed by those who ask whether there is a serious possibility of a cyberattack on American utilities."

"There will be a cyberattack on our utilities," House said during an address to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association's conference in Farmington on energy and the environment. "The questions are, when will it happen and how we will be able to manage it?"

House added, "to many people in the world, the United States introduced cyber weaponry and continues to use it today." He said the United States is "widely seen as having initiated cyber warfare for alleged participation in the Stuxnet attack" that was designed to disrupt Iran's nuclear program. House also pointed to reports that the U.S. military discussed the use of "cyber bombs" in Syria to "disrupt command and control, finances and recruitment."

Given the hostility toward the United States and the perception that Americans began the use of cyber warfare, House said, "we would be irresponsible and naïve not to prepare for a strike against our utilities here at home."

"An attack could be as small in equivalence as Hurricane Sandy or many times worse," House said, "especially if done in conjunction with a natural storm, winter cold, or if a combined attack against a natural gas transmission system and electric distribution were done together."

In April, PURA issued a cybersecurity report laying out Connecticut's plans to strengthen protections for water, gas and electricity systems in the state through voluntary, cooperative efforts with utilities.

House said Thursday the cooperative plan worked out between Connecticut utilities and state officials is "unique in the United States" and has attracted national attention.

A key part of the plan, according to House, is an agreement to conduct closed-door computer security talks with utilities that won't be part of the normal energy regulatory system in order to prevent any leaks of sensitive information. He said another important element is an agreement to conduct annual reviews between state experts and utility officials on ways to strengthen cybersecurity defenses.

Before becoming PURA's chairman in 2012, House worked with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He said federal intelligence and energy officials asked him in 2012 to look at ways to bring public utilities and state regulators together to improve defenses against cyberattacks.

House praised Connecticut utilities for their cooperation in the state's cyber defense effort.

However, one issue House didn't directly explain in his speech was that telecommunications companies operating in Connecticut have declined to take part in those annual closed-door security reviews with state officials.

In PURA's 27-page April report, state officials said representatives of the telecommunications companies were concerned that such voluntary meetings could somehow lead to state re-regulation of an industry that now primarily answers only to federal regulators.

In his remarks Thursday, House said state officials "have left the door open for the telecommunications companies to join their [utility] colleagues as good corporate citizens in this endeavor."

"The way forward is not in denial or in waiting for an attack to prove once again how resilient Americans can be in responding to disaster," House said. "We need to draw upon our strength to defend against a clear and present danger."

©2016 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.). Visit The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) at www.courant.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.