Codific highlights five key cyber risks to power grids

Codific has identified five recurring cyberattack pathways that pose the greatest risk to power grid operations, emphasizing preparation and resilience over reliance on novel defenses, Security Brief United Kingdom reports.

The analysis highlights that most disruptive attacks follow familiar patterns, starting with human errors or exposed perimeter services and escalating through credential theft, remote access exploitation, ransomware, legitimate command misuse, and systemic cascading disruptions. Spearphishing remains a common entry point, exemplified by the 2015 Ukraine grid attack, prompting recommendations for phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication and IT-OT segmentation.

Remote access vulnerabilities, including VPNs and gateways, can degrade operational systems even if core controllers remain untouched, while ransomware increasingly targets virtualized environments critical for restoration. Codific also notes that attackers can leverage legitimate industrial commands to cause operational delays, complicating detection and recovery. Broader systemic impacts are highlighted in the Lloyd's "Business Blackout" scenario, estimating economic losses up to $1 trillion.

"The grid will be targeted more in the future... we don't need to invent anything new-we just need to educate and implement the known best practices," said co-founder Dr. Dag Flachet.