MISSOULA - NorthWestern Energy and a majority of Montana’s power cooperatives met on Wednesday to plan what to do in the event of a cyberattack
Several different agencies — many meeting for the first time — talked about how to coordinate a response in the event of cybercrime during a meeting at Missoula College.
The Department of Homeland Security, "Cyber 406", NorthWestern Energy, and 20 of the state's 26 power co-ops created strategies and a plan of attack if faced with a digital threat that got past their defenses.
"It's not if it's going to happen it's when. Most of the time we defend against those before they're bad acting in our system but we're also looking at how do we deal with that once it does happen,” said Montana Air National Guard General Buel Dickson. “Who do we contact? How do we shut it down” And how do we get back online and up and running for the public?
“They can infiltrate into our infrastructure system or they can get through our network, so it can cause major damage to our system and ultimately can shut the power down,” noted Montana Electric Cooperatives' Association Chief Operating Officer Lea Potoczny.
"Disrupting the power grid is something that nation-states are certainly interested in. They want to disrupt our lives as much as possible,” added NorthWestern Energy Vice President of Technology Jeanne Vold. “From a financial perspective, there could be nefarious actors that are interested in infiltrating accounts or obtaining customer information or something that's going to benefit them financially.”
The mission of Cyber 406 is to improve Montana’s cyber-security defense across private and public sectors.
Editors note: A previous version of this article contained the incorrect name for Montana Air National Guard General Buel Dickson.
