Administration Asks Energy Companies to Report on Supply Chain Vulnerabilities – By Mariam Baksh (Nextgov) / July 7 2020
Industry leader has yet to take action promised in congressional testimony last year.
Pursuant to a May executive order, the Energy Department’s Office of Electricity wants to know what measures the power sector employs to safeguard its supply chain from cyberattacks and its use of equipment from “foreign adversaries”—questions members of Congress have been asking for more than a year.
The executive order bans the procurement of such equipment and tasks the Energy Secretary with establishing criteria for vendors that would be pre-approved, among other things.
A request for information from Energy set to publish in the Federal Register Wednesday specifically names Russia and China as foreign adversaries, noting that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence considers them both near-peer adversaries with advanced cyber programs that threaten U.S. critical infrastructure. Other countries Energy included—for the purposes of the EO—are Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.
“A successful attack on the [Bulk Power System] would present significant risks to the U.S. economy and public health and safety and would render the U.S. less capable of acting in defense of itself and its allies,” the document reads.
Continue to article: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2020/07/administration-asks-energy-companies-report-supply-chain-vulnerabilities/166700/
