Continuing our blog series, "Powerful Reading," our team of energy consultants will be sharing some of their favorite books. These books have not only influenced them in the excellent work that they do for our clients as energy consultants, but have also helped them gain perspective on a variety of global issues as we continue to strive to build a culture of lifelong learning. Today, we look at a book entitled:
Imagine if your power went out for a day, a week, a month or even longer. Not just your home or neighborhood but the entire state or region of the country. How prepared are you? How likely could such an event occur?
Ted Koppel attempts to address these issue and more in "Lights Out," specifically concerning a cyber attack on the electric grid. Although the book does not discuss the technical aspects in great detail, it does raise concerns that the public should be more aware of and that grid operators and regulators may need to educate the public more thoroughly.
We’re all aware of rampant identity theft, website hacks and multiple thefts of digital information from banks and retail entities. Exactly how secure is the grid from a cyberattack from a foreign threat or even an internal one? What proactive measures should the public take to prepare for such an outage? Koppel asks many of these questions and discusses how some groups are preparing. Is enough being done to protect this infrastructure? Unfortunately, we may not know for sure until it’s too late.
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Scott Pederson is a Certified Public Accountant and a Senior Consultant with MidDel Consulting, a System Integrator and Professional Services firm specializing in services supporting the business systems for Front, Back, and Mid-Office. MidDel has been in business for over 16 years, and our consultants, on average bring over 25 years of senior level energy industry knowledge to our projects. We have deep relationships with our clients, often working with them for more than a decade.
