What the Power Industry Has to Learn about Cyber Vulnerability Disclosure

Although advanced metering infrastructures enable more dynamic generation, distribution and consumption, smart meters, wireless repeaters and routers must operate in physically unprotected environments and communicate with potentially hostile consumer systems. What is more, expanded bandwidth requirements tempt system designers to rely on non-dedicated and often un-trusted networks because of their lower costs. A combination of expanded cyber dependencies and greater public exposure will increase potential impacts from software vulnerabilities discovered within these systems. Thus, software vulnerability management is more problematic than ever.