AUSTIN — During the board meeting of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, CEO Pablo Vegas said Taylor Police Department participated in a cyber preparation event alongside ERCOT last month.
The seventh edition of GridEx, a grid security and resilience exercise hosted every two years by North American Electric Reliability Corporation, was held Nov. 14 and Nov. 15.
According to ERCOT, GridEx provided a forum to practice response and recovery from coordinated cyber and physical security incidents.
“It was great learning from the communications and operations point of view,” Vegas said. “It’s the kind of event that we’re going to continue to host in partnership with the broader market in order to make sure we’re ready for anything that comes our way.”
Taylor PD confirmed that the police department had one attendee present who observed the five-hour training.
The participant from the local police department was joined by ERCOT leaders and representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
GridEx results will eventually be formulated into a public report made available online at the NERC’s website under the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center section.
According to a statement provided by ERCOT spokesperson Trudi Webster, the grid operator follows National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework. The framework recommends five functions to defend from cyberattacks.
The functions involve identifying atrisk assets, implementing protections for those assets, determining how cyber threats are detected, figuring out how to respond to cyber incidents and reviewing a recovery plan.
ERCOT prepares year-round for all threats in what is referred to as a defense-in-depth strategy, the statement said. The strategy utilizes security approaches for online or in-person attacks.
“Whether the threat is cyber or physical, ERCOT continually invests in trained staff and resources to help keep the electric grid safe,” the statement said. “From system redundancies to controlled access, ERCOT has multiple layers of protective measures to safeguard its critical infrastructure.”
Vegas said Texas A&M University helped facilitate the GridEx work.
CEO Pablo Vegas gives update to board members Tuesday, Dec. 19. Screenshot from Dec. 19 Electric Reliability Council of Texas meeting
