In the May edition of Indiana Connection magazine, my column about solar farms was a recommendation from a member. I appreciate the members’ feedback on topics they would like to learn more about. This month, we have selected another member-requested topic: cybersecurity.  

We talk about cybersecurity more than ever before in our current business environment. Unfortunately, cyberattacks aren’t just a concern of large organizations but of local cooperatives, too. When we talk about safety, we are talking about the safety of our employees and the community and the safety and security of our systems and network. 

As your electric provider, part of offering excellent service is keeping that service secure and reliable. Reliability means repairing wear and tear and upgrading electric equipment to withstand storms and severe weather. Ensuring reliability also means using technology and best practices to secure our electrical system from cybersecurity issues. 

There has been an increase in recent attacks on critical infrastructure, such as substations. We recognize the concern that these situations have brought to many communities. That’s why we have made it a priority to defend our infrastructure against growing threats. 

As we look for ways to ensure the safety of our infrastructure, your co-op information technology team is developing strategies to protect against these attacks and prevent them from being successful. By leveraging cooperative principle six, Cooperation Among Cooperatives, we have pooled our technical knowledge and best practices with other co-ops to help equip us to detect, prevent and respond swiftly to potential cyberattacks.  

As part of our cybersecurity strategy, we perform cybersecurity and physical security assessments using industry recommendations. These assessments help our organization validate its preparedness for known and unknown vulnerabilities. The process includes verifying that our co-op’s security controls are adequate. The outcome of an assessment provides the co-op’s information technology team with a detailed risk analysis to help improve the overall cybersecurity program. 

While we can’t stop a storm or predict every possible electrical disruption, your cooperative is doing everything possible to keep the lights on for our membership and protect against potential physical and cybersecurity threats to our business and infrastructure.