Power utilities eye AI to combat cyber attacks

Visakhapatnam

A Southern regional conference-cum-workshop on cybersecurity awareness for over 120 power sector professionals across power utilities in the South India was held recently in the city.

Most of the delegates spoke on the challenges faced by power utilities, and the role of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to prevent the cyberfraud.

Computer Security Incident Response Team for Power Sector (CSIRT-Power), Ministry of Power, organised the event in association with the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). AP Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) hosted the event.

With the power sector increasingly emerging as a prime target for sophisticated cyber threats, it is imperative to build a skilled and vigilant workforce capable of anticipating, mitigating, and responding to cybersecurity challenges, the workshop is one of the initiatives of the Ministry to combat the challenges, the release added.

Addressing the conference, APEPDCL chairman & managing director I. Prudhvitej spoke about the role of AI in cyber attacks. Thanking the Power Ministry for choosing Visakhapatnam as the venue of the event, he informed about certain initiatives taken by APEPDCL in cyber security.

PGCIL executive director Doman Yadav briefed about PGCIL’s cyber security preparedness.

CSIRT-Power director (cyber security) L. K. S. Rathore emphasised the strategic importance of cybersecurity in the power sector and talked about the initiatives taken by Ministry of Power to make power sector cyber-secure.

APEPDCL director (finance) D. Chandram spoke about the advanced threats targeting the power sector and measures to circumvent them.

Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) executive director (finance & IT) Shailesh Kumar Gupta emphasised on cybersecurity in renewable energy sector due to its continuous growth and increasing penetration in energy mix.

Southern Regional Load Despath Centre executive director V. Balaji presented his views on a cyber-secure grid operation.

NTPC Simhadri executive director Sameer Sharma appreciated the growth and achievements of CSIRT-Power within the short period of its being setup by the Ministry of Power. He suggested organising more such workshops to spread awareness among professionals.