Peter Martini, Bonn The crucial role of cybersecurity for a resilient energy supply Vulnerability will increase with digitalisation

The vulnerability of energy supply will increase with digitalisation The crucial role of cybersecurity for a resilient energy supply

by Prof Dr Peter Martini, Fraunhofer

Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE), Bonn

Prof Dr Peter Martini

is the Director of the Fraunhofer

The events in Ukraine removed all doubt regarding how vulnerable our energy systems are to cyberattacks. This vulnerability will only increase in the course of continuing digitalisation, a fact that demonstrates the necessity of cybersecure, resilient energy systems. Although the effects have been manageable so far, each attack increases the hackers’ capabilities and knowledge of system vulnerabilities. This is an overall threat to the economies of industrialised nations. Attacks are no longer the stuff of fiction Electricity is the foundation of our modern life. Production, mobility, communication and trade grind to a halt without it. Thus, a reliable, affordable, and constantly available energy supply forms the backbone of today’s industrialised countries. The increasing digitalisation in the energy sector not only offers huge opportunities to secure the European economic region, it also entails significant risks. Threat and vulnerability increase in proportion to the dependency of society. Thus, a successful attack on critical infrastructures, such as electricity networks and power plants, would not only have far-reaching consequences for the targeted country but also for the entire economic region of the European Union. Such attacks are no longer the stuff of fiction but, for companies in the energy industry, have long since become a part of day-today operations. Furthermore, these are not merely attacks by lone hackers, but rather they have been elevated to the level of coordinated campaigns for some time, as the German Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, BSI) has repeatedly emphasised. In order to protect and further develop the increasingly digitalised energy supply as effectively, responsibly, and as close to the point of use as possible, we have to realign the branches of research and industry specialised in this field. In doing so, the aim is to create a reliable, efficient and resilient energy supply even against the backdrop of the transition to renewables – or, rather, precisely in response to this transition. If the goals are to ensure supply security, to extend automation as an economic factor, to improve planning and operation of the energy supply system through digitalisation, and adequately counteract threats from cyberspace, the corresponding research must follow an interdisciplinary approach. Assembling cross-disciplinary competences To this end, Fraunhofer FKIE and an A-list of partners, including the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT), the Institute for High Voltage Technology (IFTH) and the E.ON Energy Research Center of the Technical University (RWTH) in Aachen, have developed the concept for the Fraunhofer Center for Digital Energy. The center gathers cross-disciplinary competencies in the key areas of energy technology, digitalisation, IT security and economics. This interdisciplinary, directly deployable, independent collaboration produces valuable foundations for and contributions to the secure and successful digitalisation of energy supply. By relying on the three pillars of, first, research and development, second, education and training, and third, test methods, we address the topics of new technologies and processes, shortages of specialised personnel, and integration of research contributions. Fraunhofer FKIE – together with its close cooperation partners – focuses on research and development in essential aspects of cybersecurity in critical infrastructures. We address prevention, detection and reaction with respect to both individual systems within the energy network and to the overall network. A challenging effort – but in a world like ours it is how we achieve reliable energy supply. Ultimately, this is the only way to achieve prosperity, growth and peace in Europe, at least in this area. Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE) in Bonn and he is the Director of the Institute for Informatics IV at the University of Bonn. Photo: FKIE “ Each attack increases the hackers’ capabilities and knowledge of system vulnerabilities.”