Responsible Cybersecurity Vulnerability Disclosure Practices for the DER Industry. – SunSpec Alliance

Abstract

Vulnerability disclosure is the practice of reporting security flaws in computer software or hardware. Security researchers and others examine software and hardware products to find flaws. When flaws are found, and to preempt bad actors from finding and exploiting the flaws themselves, individuals inform vendors of the affected products so that defects can be eliminated. Sounds easy, right?

Unfortunately, vulnerability disclosures can be tricky. While vendors often prefer to wait until they know a problem is solved before disclosing to their customer bases, customers–whose data or systems may be at risk–prefer quick public disclosure and immediate resolution.

How can we balance these divergent interests, get the word out in a responsible and timely manner, and keep the energy grid going? In this one hour session, our panel of experts will explore this topic and describe how practitioners can manage disclosure in a responsible way.

Our panelists include Tom Tansy, Jay Johnson and special guests from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Mitre Corporation.

Tom Tansy