Owners and operators of the electric grid in the United States are facing an unprecedented number of physical and cyber security risks. This session will discuss the methods that electric utilities are using to address the wide variety of risks, with special focus on a new program called “**Cyber Mutual Assistance**” Based on lessons learned from major destructive cyber incidents overseas, and from exercises in North America, the Cyber Mutual Assistance program was developed. It is an extension of the electric power industry’s longstanding approach of sharing critical personnel and equipment when responding to emergencies. As a variety of industries are struggling with finding qualified security personnel, particularly when responding to a cyber incident, the cyber mutual assistance program provides an alternative, surge capacity. David Batz, Senior Director of Cyber & Infrastructure Security at Edison Electric Institute, will be providing information about the Cyber Mutual Assistance program, one example of a variety of industry initiatives developed by the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) to provide resilience and restoration capability to entities in the electricity sector.

David Batz

David Batz CISSP GSNA, GPEN, GCIH,GSEC, Senior Director, Cyber & Infrastructure Security, Edison Electric Institute Leveraging over 20 years of utility experience, David Batz brings significant industry knowledge in understanding and applying appropriate security solutions to address emerging threats and issues. In addition, Mr. Batz leverages a decade of energy regulatory compliance as well as physical and cyber security policy experience and engagement with federal agencies including Department of Energy (DoE), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr. Batz is a member of InfraGard, and serves on the SANS Institute Advisory Board. He has served on the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection Committee (CIPC) and the CIPC-Executive Committee. Batz has authored various articles and presented at numerous events on securing critical infrastructure, industrial systems and standardization topics for prominent industry associations including NIST, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the American Society Civil Engineers to name a few. Mr. Batz is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and has multiple security certifications.

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