In the U.S., critical infrastructure consists of sixteen essential sectors that make daily life possible. National critical functions are the functions of government and the private sector so vital to the U.S. that their disruption, corruption, or dysfunction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety. Here, we talk to Brian Harrell about the importance of protecting critical infrastructure, the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risks to critical infrastructure and more.

According to Security Implications of the Smart Grid, a report from Marie Wright, PhD, of Western Connecticut State University, and Robert Billings, Jr., B.A., of Billings Electric, the shift to a smart grid infrastructure means that power companies will be using more IP-based communications and commercial, off-the-shelf technologies.

The number of electrical outages affecting 50,000 or more people for at least an hour doubled during the decade up to 2012.  Most of the blackouts were caused by damage to large transmission lines and substations during extreme weather events, a new analysis from nonprofit Climate Central says. Michigan has the most outages, followed by Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

After several officials let slip some sensitive documents revealing specific physical threats to the U.S. power grid, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is taking steps to clamp down on the flow of information out of the organization. 

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) warns that the April 16, 2014, attack on a California power plant proves that terrorists could take down whole stretches of the U.S. power grid. Schumer said Sunday that power companies currently have the right to veto proposed security requirements, but he is calling for the federal energy regulator and the Department of Homeland Security to draft tougher security standards overseen by Congress that would end the industry’s veto rights.