Cybersecurity is without a doubt the most pressing issue facing the utility industry currently. The implications of a strong vs a lax culture of cyber awareness at any given utility have a pronounced impact on the industry at large. Speculation and investment in renewables and the improvements in efficiency brought by big data analytics are also top of mind issues in our industry, but cybersecurity will always exceed them in order of importance.
While improving our systems with new sources of energy and smarter processes does have the potential to revolutionize how we do business on a massive scale, improper cybersecurity can render those and any other technological gains we may achieve, moot.
The fact is, the need for stringent cybersecurity protocols and training for utilities and the people who operate them grows continuously. There’s no question that our laws and media-based businesses lag behind the exponential pace of technological growth at this point, so it falls to individual citizens to properly regulate technology and its place in our lives.
As we become more and more dependent on devices to automate our lives, we also increase the danger we place ourselves in as each of these nodes in our ever-expanding network is vulnerable to attack. Each vulnerability creates a doorway to the greater network, exposing more and more to the same dangers. The growth of technology is exponential, but so is the growth of the danger we will face as a result without taking the proper precautions.
Meridian Cooperative is on the forefront of cybersecurity technologies and aimed squarely at utilities. Through our Managed Security Services, Advanced Security with Compression, and Disaster Recovery Services, we provide you with the tools you need to stay ahead of and on top of the latest cyber threats. Contact a Meridian CRI professional today to learn more and help keep your utility safe from cyberthreats.