IEEE Power and Energy

Two-day workshop on

“Cyber Security management of IT/OT/IOT in Power systems & utilities”

September 17 & 18, 2021

Venue: Online

IEEE PES Bangalore Chapter in association with IEEE IAS Bangalore Chapter & POSOCO jointly present two-day workshop on

“Cyber Security management of IT/OT/IOT in Power systems & utilities”

The registration for the event is closed. Thank you for making the event grand success.

All attendees will be muted on entry and for any questions and clarifications, use “Raise hand” or chat option.
As this is an important topic for all practising engineers, an interactive session is planned. Your active participation and encouragement will be appreciated.
Some Speakers may restrict the transmission of their presentations and recording. All approved presentation materials will be shared with all attendees in due course of time.

Modern power plants and substations have been moving from manual to automatic controls and are increasingly being connected to public and private networks for remote access and operation. Also, the utilities are focusing more on renewable energy sources and adding millions of other components like smart meters, smart gadgets, systems, and sensors along with their networks. This proliferation is exposing Power systems to lots of cyber-attacks. There’s been a sharp rise over the past two years in cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure, including grids, and it’s also becoming easier for hackers to gain access to key equipment, according to Darktrace, a U.K headquartered security provider.

“Essential state infrastructures like power grids and nuclear reactors have been and will continue to be a target of cyber-attacks because modernization allows internet connectivity, which makes them vulnerable,” said Kim Seungjoo, a professor at Korea University’s School of Cybersecurity. “It’s almost a natural instinct of hackers, especially the state-sponsored ones, to attack energy infrastructure because they can easily disrupt national security.”

POSOCO oversees the grid through the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC), the five RLDCs and 34 state load despatch centres (SLDCs). The grid is under constant attack, with at least 30 events reported daily, as reported by Mint. Most originate from China, Singapore, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. However, Necessary isolation and other protective measures have been taken by these organizations and pre-empted most of the attacks.

In this context, IEEE PES Bangalore Chapter & POSOCO, Bangalore jointly present a two-day workshop on “Cyber Security management of IT/OT/IOT in Power systems & utilities”, September 17 & 18, 2021, Bengaluru. Many topics relevant to the above scenario will be deliberated and discussed through multiple sessions and tracks.

Experts from Power systems operations, security vendors, and policymakers are being invited to present in the workshop. We are expecting participants from other Distribution companies, KPTCL, KPCL, POSOCO, and other utilities outside Karnataka. Apart from this, other working professionals in Power System operations will be attending this event.

“Developing Cyber Security Culture in the Information Technology (IT), Operational Technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IOT) Environment” is the theme of the workshop. Discussions on security threats and solutions applied to generation, Transmission, and Distribution will be conducted. At the end of the workshop, a white paper will be compiled and submitted to BESCOM & other stakeholders.

Mr Kumara Naik, IAS, Addl Chief Secretary, GoK
Sri Suresh V, ED, POSOCO
Dr Sudarsan SD, ED, C-DAC
Sri Rudresh MV, MD, OSI

General Chairs

Sri Rajashekhar S, Chair, PES Bangalore Chapter
Sri Anil D’Souza, BESCOM

Organizing Committee

Sri Narayanan Rajagopal, TCS
Dr GKV Raju, GE
Dr Abhishek Appaji, BMSCE
Dr Deepaknath T, Hitach ABB Power Grids
Dr Swaminathan G, Schneider
Mr Hemanth M, Enerzinx
Dr Vidya HA, Amrita University