Remember to protect your juice

Your computer system is only as good as the electricity that powers it. And that's why utilities nationwide will triple their investments in equipment protection by 2015.

Pike Research forecasts that utility companies will invest more than $21 billion in cybersecurity over the next five years to protect the so-called smart grid. There are a variety of programs in the works to help these investments along including stimulus money from the Department of Energy.

Any company can put up firewalls against hackers and train their staff to prevent security leaks, but if the security on the electrical system fails, it still could cause a massive problem. So when you survey your cybersecurity protections, remember to think about the source of the juice that keeps your systems humming, too. You may be powerless to prevent a cyberattack at the source of the power, but it might be useful to consider an alternate electrical source of power in the event of an outage.

For more on utilities and cyberprotection:
- see this InformationWeek.com article

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