New study of SCADA and energy management systems finds increase in adoption of cyber security defensive measures
Research Co. released preliminary findings and observations from its multi-month study of transmission and distribution monitoring and control systems used in international electric power utilities.
Early highlights of the international 2008 study of mission critical, real-time electric utility operational systems including energy management, supervisory control, and distribution network management include the following:
* Outage management: Nearly one half of the international utilities surveyed so far this year have implemented a separate outage management system (OMS). This reflects a strong increase from 2005’s 30 percent of responding utilities reporting having a separate OMS at that time.
* Power generation management: Generation management systems (GMS) are also experiencing an increased level of activity this year, at least among the early international respondents. In the 2005 study, only a handful of participating international utilities had reported use of, or plans for, a separate GMS. The percentage this year has risen to 21 percent thus far into the study.