Natural gas pipelines, SCADA, and cyber security

    May 20, 2011
    Thursday, May 19th, Secretary of Commerce Ray LaHood and Cynthia Quaterman, head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration came to San Bruno, CA to pledge there will be tougher pipeline rules. Beginning in August, the federal government will require all pipeline operators to evaluate risks in their systems and take action immediately. One of the actions will the installation of remote, automated shut-off valves – effectively SCADA and absolutely cyber.
    Thursday, May 19th, Secretary of Commerce Ray LaHood and Cynthia Quaterman, head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration came to San Bruno, CA to pledge there will be tougher pipeline rules. Beginning in August, the federal government will require all pipeline operators to evaluate risks in their systems and take action immediately. One of the actions will the installation of remote, automated shut-off valves – effectively SCADA and absolutely cyber. As San Bruno is the second cyber-related pipeline rupture that has killed people, hopefully the gas operators will be more proactive than their electric counterparts in addressing cyber security.  Even unintentional pipeline closures that do not result in pipeline failures can be extremely expensive.
    Joe Weiss

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