Participation in North American electric grid security exercise surges

North American electricity sector organizations that joined this year's GridEx cyber and physical security exercise surpassed 370, which is almost 50% higher than in 2023, reports SecurityWeek.

Increased participation in GridEx VIII, which has been held every two years by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center to evaluate how the continent's power grid manages cyber and physical threats, is partly due to the new options that made it easier for organizations to take part.

Aside from a 70% increase in small- and medium-sized utilities joining the exercise, Canadian partners also had stronger involvement, according to NERC Senior Vice President and E-ISAC CEO Michael Ball, who also noted engagement from the natural gas, water and wastewater, and telecommunications industries.

This year's exercise used a scenario based on real-world risks to check emergency plans and coordination. A report on lessons learned is expected in early 2026. Such a development comes amid persistent cyberattacks against utilities. Nova Scotia Power faced a ransomware attack this year, while Chinese state-backed threat operation Volt Typhoon compromised a small Massachusetts utility for nearly a year.