There Is No SMART in Smart Grid Without Secure and Reliable Communications

One of the smart grid's vulnerabilities stems from its reliance on wireless two-way communication among an increasing number of intelligent, connected devices, including smart meters and, eventually, smart appliances. Smart interfaces help utilities use this data to integrate distributed energy and demand response resources. But to maintain the security i.e., the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of unprecedented volumes of data coming your way on the smart grid requires a new set of security measures to protect the reliability, performance, and manageability of critical communications assets throughout your infrastructure and from "point-to-point" or meter to data center and back. To be truly smart, the grid must provide a secure two-way flow of data throughout system components, including meters, switches, gateways, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition/Energy Management System (SCADA/EMS) control centers, databases, and energy participants.