CHAPTER 3 Measuring Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Cybersecurity for Renewable Energy Systems

Rising demand for renewable energy resources has led to a noticeable focus on undertaking technological innovations to expand the green energy industry and respond to demand. As a result, cybersecurity has emerged as a critical issue as the green energy sector faces growing cyber risks. For example, smart grids—which are meant to provide reliable and efficient power network systems to distribute renewable energy resources—open up more direct and indirect connections to the Internet and more connections among the nodes in the networks. Smart grids also require advanced computing and communication technologies. Adding new sources of renewable energy to grids also requires an increase in the frequency and speed of technological adjustments. Consequently, while enhanced features and functionalities are introduced, the networked systems become increasingly vulnerable. Other complications and vulnerabilities are also added with the Internet of Things (IoT), where intelligent devices are getting connected, as sensors and/or controllers, within energy networks. In fact, not only are vulnerabilities on the rise, but they also have the potential of becoming very sophisticated, given the unknown characteristics of new technologies. Because a great deal of attention is being focused on technological innovations in renewable energy systems, the cybersecurity research community has also focused mostly on the technical aspects. Overall, a similar trend is observed in energy companies as they face the challenges of the high cost of developing new technologies in a context of limitation of available resources. As a result, it is not surprising that the organizational aspects of cybersecurity have become a blind spot for both industry and academia.