Institution news
With connected assets providing both advantages and challenges for operational plants, we spoke to Martin Sloan, Group Head of Information Security at Drax Power Limited, who will be presenting at the Power Plant Operations, Maintenance and Flexibility seminar to discuss the opportunities and implications these have for the power industry.
Q: Could you briefly explain your role and involvement in the power generating plants?
Martin Sloan (MS): I have a broad senior management portfolio spanning InfoSec, Cyber Security, BC and Crisis Management. There are three distinct work areas: production (pellet plants and port facility in the US), generation (which includes world’s largest decarbonisation project in use of wood pellets) and retail (B2B for electricity and gas supply). For me it's key to understand the changing threat landscape: the full left to right of attack vectors.
Q: What is the number one challenge in the quest to improve anticipation of the problems that can occur when dealing with plant operations and maintenance?
MS: The number one challenge is increasing connectivity with corporate enterprise and the use of PI and other operational technology (OT) data. We must also ensure that other IoT devices are not unknowingly connected to anything outside the trusted OT network. It is also important to identify aging equipment and managing a timed roadmap to upgrades that will allow activity such as auto patching. This all leads to increased levels of compliance with the NIS Directive.
Simply put: it is vital to get the basics right.
Q: What is the most exciting development in this field at the moment, either within your company or in the industry in general?
MS: The adoption of Windows-based operating systems in the OT environment and helping with A/D authentication. Recently the industry has seen end users working with major vendors on the security hardening of devices and exploring how previous embedded vulnerabilities can be addressed. This is all tied in to the variances between different software and firmware versions.
Q: Where do you see developments heading in the next 5-10 years regarding how to best operate and manage power plants?
MS: More remote working and increased connectivity to isolated plants. The management of connected networks will also improve in the next five years.
Q: What are you most looking forward to by attending and presenting at the seminar?
MS: I'm looking forward to hearing where others are in their preparation and their journey to meet their NIS Directive obligations; what are their biggest blockers and what is their approach to operational risks based on the current threat landscape?
Find out more
The need for more flexible and reliable power plants to meet the needs of the UK market is greater than ever. Providing short term running and frequent starts and a host of non-energy services creates new challenges for both new and ageing assets. Power Plant Operations, Maintenance and Flexibility will bring together power industry professionals to share insights and best practice to address current operational and maintenance challenges facing operators and technology designers.
Early Bird ends 2 March 2018, for full details and to book your place please visit the event website.