Keyless Signature Blockchain Infrastructure: Facilitating NERC CIP Compliance and Responding to Evolving Cyber Threats and Vulnerabilities to Energy Infrastructure

The U.S. power grid is a complex system of systems that requires secure, reliable and trustworthy energy delivery systems. Grid modernization has increased the speed and size of data sets exchanged on these systems. Exasperating the challenge is these systems are increasingly distributed creating new data fidelity and interoperability challenges for grid operators struggling to balance and incorporate distributed energy resources. Blockchain technology provides an atomically verifiable cryptographic signature to help increase the trustworthiness of energy delivery systems at the grid's edge. This is especially important as distribution level as energy delivery systems and field devices have increasing operational and security requirements that are often diametrically opposed: as data, speed and analytic requirements increase, security and functionality requirements increase, as the grid's edge incorporate distributed energy resources and transacts in real time, availability is prioritized over the integrity and confidentially of that data. This paper explores how a keyless signature blockchain infrastructure (KSBI) technology may help facilitate NERC CIP compliance and securing critical energy infrastructure from evolving cyber threats and vulnerabilities.