Smart grid vulnerabilities: Innovation key to protecting against cyber attack

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By Theodore Wood, Dina Blikshteyn and William H. Sanders

“A major cyber attack somewhere in the United States is becoming increasingly possible, top government intelligence officials said, warning that an assault on America's power grid system “represents the battleground for the future.”” as reported by the Washington Post in "U.S. intelligence officials concerned about cyber attack," February 11, 2011. A successful cyber attack on the grid could have a devastating impact on our national security, economy and our way of life. Grid vulnerabilities  are real and the long-term consequences of a successful wide-spread attack are unimaginable. 

Consider the Northeast Blackout of 2003. This limited blackout affected more than 55 million people, effectively shut down business, transportation, cities and schools, caused 11 deaths and cost an estimated $6 billion in lost production. While that blackout was due to a confluence of non-malicious events, similar consequences might be achievable by a large-scale, coordinated, cyber attack. The solution lies with innovation. 

Innovation = grid resiliency

Through innovation, new technologies can emerge to help enhance the grid’s resiliency.  Such technologies should address protecting the grid from cyber and other attacks, detecting when failures occur and responding and recovering accordingly. SSSuccessful innovation includes creativity, investment and intellectual property (IP) protection. Investment is essential to transforming creativity into tangible technologies. IP protection is a significant factor considered by investors when deciding in which technologies to invest to maximize their returns. And it is critical to have strong IP protection in place before entering the marketplace.   

Depending upon the characteristics of the innovator company, IP concerns can vary. Innovators of grid resiliency technologies that take the form of traditional power system technology developers are most likely patent-savvy and have mature IP portfolios. These companies should be focused on strategic IP planning and rights enforcement (e.g., patent litigation, licensing and reexamination) to maintain their standing in the marketplace.

Are your patents good enough? Better check

Other companies, many of which have had significant roles in the defense industry, have entered the grid industry through acquisitions. These companies may have acquired niche providers with significant technical know-how, patents and other grid related IP. It is imperative that they conduct patent forensics to confirm ownership of their IP, assess scope of protection and uncover validity or enforceability issues before using their acquired IP rights.

Small niche innovators working on power generation, distribution and/or transmission technologies must focus on due diligence to establish the freedom to use and operate their innovations. A strategy for protecting their innovations with quality patents should be developed and implemented.

No matter the size of the innovator company, they should all be familiar with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). It is the federal agency that grants patent and trademark protection in the United States and it has a significant role in spurring and protecting grid resiliency innovations. The USPTO's leadership, their programs and procedures are essential to helping innovators protect and commercialize their inventions.

The time is ripe for innovation that will help make our grid more resilient, and ultimately reduce the likelihood of a successful cyber attack – and minimize the potential effects any attack might have on our security, our economy and our lives.

Theodore Wood (twood@skgf.com) is a director and Dina Blikshteyn (dblikshteyn@skgf.com) is an associate with IP specialty law firm Sterne Kessler, Goldstein & Fox. William H. Sanders (whs@illinois.edu) is a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept., the Director of the Coordinated Science Laboratory, and the Director of the Trustworthy Cyber Infrastructure for Power Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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