Critical Infrastructure at a Crossroads: Cybersecurity Gaps in the Utility Sector

If you’ve ever had the lights go out in the middle of a Netflix binge, you know just how fragile our utility systems can feel. Now, imagine that same blackout – not caused by a storm, squirrel or clumsy backhoe operator but by a hacker halfway across the globe who thinks it’s hilarious to shut down the power grid. Welcome to the reality of cybersecurity in the utility sector, a mix of legacy technology, patchwork defenses and enough regulatory acronyms to make your head spin.

We’re at a crossroads. One direction: modernize, secure and actually get ahead of attackers. The other: keep duct-taping outdated systems together and hope no one notices until it’s too late. Spoiler alert: the bad guys already noticed.

Where Dinosaurs Roam
Utilities are a unique beast. They sit on top of legacy operational technology (OT) systems designed decades ago to keep turbines spinning and water flowing. These systems were never built with cybersecurity in mind. Passwords? Ha. Encryption? Forget it. For many, “security by obscurity” was the best defense (“No one would ever think to hack this rusty old pump controller, right?”). Unfortunately, nation-state adversaries and ransomware gangs have proven time and again that, yes, they will happily hack that rusty old pump controller.

Add to that the workforce challenge. Utilities are fighting to hire cybersecurity professionals in a market where talent is already scarce. OT cybersecurity pros are basically unicorns – rare, mythical and very expensive if you manage to catch one.

And then there’s modernization. Some utilities are racing forward with smart grids, Internet of Things sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring. Others are still trying to migrate off Windows XP. The result? A messy quilt of defenses that leave gaping holes attackers can – and do – exploit.

Not Your Grandma’s Cyber Criminals
Today’s attackers aren’t just script kiddies running port scans from their basement. Utilities face a rogues’ gallery of adversaries, such as:

• Nation-state hackers testing how quickly they can turn off your heat in January.
• Ransomware syndicates that don’t care if their victim is a hospital, power grid or wastewater plant – money is money.
• Supply chain risks where one vulnerable vendor becomes the hacker’s golden ticket. Remember SolarWinds? That wasn’t just an information technology (IT) problem.
• AI-powered threats that make phishing more convincing, intrusions more automated and disinformation campaigns practically indistinguishable from reality.

It’s a fun mix of cyber chaos. And while utilities are considered critical infrastructure, many of them are still under-protected compared to banks, retailers and even the Wi-Fi at your local Starbucks.

Regulatory Pressures
Governments know the risk, so they’ve rolled out frameworks, mandates and compliance checklists galore. In the U.S., utilities navigate North American Electric Reliability Corp. Critical Infrastructure Protection, Department of Energy directives, Environmental Protection Agency initiatives, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework.

The problem? Regulations often lag behind threats. Compliance becomes a box-checking exercise, not true resilience. It’s the equivalent of installing a seat belt in a car that’s already missing its brakes. Sure, you’re technically “compliant,” but you’re not exactly safe driving down the highway.

Mind the Gaps: Where Utilities Still Struggle
Even with all the attention, utilities have some glaring cybersecurity gaps:

• Visibility across IT and OT. Many utilities don’t have a single pane of glass to see attacks spanning both networks.
• Incident response. Tabletops and crisis drills are often underfunded or nonexistent.
• Zero Trust adoption. In most utilities, this is still more buzzword than reality.
• Threat intelligence sharing. Utilities often operate in silos, reluctant to share information even though attackers are collaborating just fine.

It’s not that leaders don’t care. It’s that years of underinvestment, technical debt and operational pressures make it hard to prioritize cybersecurity until an incident forces the issue. And by then, it’s too late.

The Bright Side
Here’s the good news: tools and models exist to fix these issues. Utilities don’t need to reinvent the wheel; they just need to commit to:

• Technology. If implemented properly, AI-driven threat detection; network segmentation and integrated endpoint detection and response; network detection and response; and extended detection and response platforms are game changers.
• Governance, including integrated security operations centers and network operations centers, risk-based frameworks, and accountability that goes all the way to the boardroom.
• The workforce. Public-private partnerships, upskilling programs and scenario-based training can start to close the talent gap.
• Resiliency. Redundancy, crisis communication planning and cyber-physical response exercises make the difference between a bad day and a catastrophic one.

Utilities that embrace these changes don’t just protect themselves – they safeguard national security, public health and the economy.

Choose Wisely
Utilities today face a choice. They can continue patching systems reactively, hoping attackers don’t find the next weak spot. Or they can embrace proactive security, invest in resilience, and build defenses strong enough to deter and withstand modern threats.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Failure means disrupted services, public safety risks and even threats to national security. Success means reliable utilities, safer communities and maybe – just maybe – fewer Netflix cliff-hangers caused by blackouts.

So yes, utilities are at a crossroads. The question is whether they’ll choose the road paved with modernization, collaboration and resilience or the one marked “shortcut” that ends in a large ditch.

Conclusion
Cybersecurity in the utility sector isn’t optional. It’s existential. The threats are real, the gaps are glaring, and the attackers are only getting smarter. But so can we.

The call to action is simple: Utilities must stop treating cybersecurity as an afterthought and start treating it as mission-critical infrastructure, right alongside turbines, substations and water pumps. Delay is not an option. The crossroads is here, and the choice utilities make today will define whether we live in a future of resilience or in the dark.

About the Author: Stacy Mill is a visionary cybersecurity leader with success developing talent, securing engineering solutions and driving value for organizations across a variety of industries. As CIO and CISO at Nashville Electric Service, she transformed the company’s legacy mainframe, multiple data center environment into an efficient hybrid cloud model that empowered NES customers and the workforce, providing increased security and reliability. Currently, Mill is senior vice president of NOC and SOC services for Pomeroy (https://pomeroy.com), a global technology solutions provider.