Cyber Resilience in the Electricity Ecosystem: Securing the Value Chain

The report argues that securing the electricity ecosystem requires a shift from isolating individual products to a collaborative value chain approach. It defines a responsibility model across four focus areas: product supply, solution design and commissioning, system operational security, and product operational security. The model assigns specific duties to product suppliers, system integrators, asset owners, and asset operators, supported by three recommended cybersecurity programmes: product security, supplier management, and industrial security programmes. The document emphasizes 'resilience by design' and the need for shared accountability to manage risks across the end-to-end lifecycle of hardware and services, which can span from 5 to 50 years.

• The electricity industry is transitioning from centralized, top-down distribution to a customer-centric model of decentralized, networked assets, rendering isolated security approaches insufficient.
• Cybersecurity threats are shifting away from the manufacturing stage toward the design of components, software, and development environments, necessitating a focus on the entire value chain rather than just the supply chain.
• The proposed responsibility model divides the value chain into product and operation phases, with the product supply phase (12-24 months) and the operations phase (5-50 years) having distinct security focus areas.
• Product suppliers are solely responsible for security during the product supply phase and must implement a product security programme to manage risks from the design stage.
• The solution design and commissioning phase involves a transition of responsibility from product suppliers to system integrators and asset owners, requiring collaboration to define future system security requirements.
• Operational security is a shared responsibility: asset owners must provide a secure environment via an industrial security programme, while product suppliers must provide ongoing vulnerability management and patches throughout the product's life.
• Effective value chain security requires a 'balanced security' approach that aligns technical controls (e.g., firewalls) with non-technical controls (e.g., policy and training) to prevent human-centric vulnerabilities.

APA

World Economic Forum (2020). Cyber Resilience in the Electricity Ecosystem: Securing the Value Chain. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Securing_the_Electricity_Value_Chain_2020.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Cyber Resilience in the Electricity Ecosystem: Securing the Value Chain. 2020. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Securing_the_Electricity_Value_Chain_2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Cyber Resilience in the Electricity Ecosystem: Securing the Value Chain |date=December 2020 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Securing_the_Electricity_Value_Chain_2020.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2020cyber, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Cyber Resilience in the Electricity Ecosystem: Securing the Value Chain}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Securing_the_Electricity_Value_Chain_2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }