The resilience of electric power systems can no longer be treated as a reliability problem alone. Recent real-world failures like the 2025 Iberian blackout show that complex automation can destabilize a grid even without malware or attackers present. At the same time, cyber campaigns such as Volt Typhoon and past Ukraine grid attacks demonstrate that adversaries can now convert digital access into physical impact.

This session presents a practical resilience strategy that does not depend on rip-and-replace modernization. Instead, it applies security architecture principles to physical infrastructure. By combining containment, boundary enforcement, and controlled failure behavior, this method limits the blast radius of cyber intrusions, system faults, and accidents. The session provides real examples, architectural patterns, and steps operators can take today to build systems that survive disruption.

About the speaker

Patrick Miller

CEO of AMPYX CYBER

Patrick Miller has dedicated his career to the protection and defense of critical infrastructures as a trusted independent security and regulatory advisor for more than 35 years. In addition to being the CEO of the industrial cybersecurity consulting firm AMPYX CYBER, he was one of the original architects and the first regulator of the NERC CIP Standards in North America and former Principal Investigator for the US Department of Energy’s National Electric Sector Cybersecurity Organization. Patrick is an internationally recognized public speaker, and recently testified to the US-China Economic and Security Review Senate Commission on the Chinese cyberthreat to critical infrastructure. Mr. Miller’s diverse background spans the Energy, Water, Telecommunications, Financial, and Insurance Services verticals including key positions with regulatory agencies, private consulting firms, utility asset owners and commercial organizations.
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Session

Resilience for Electric Grids – Containment, Control, and Survival in Critical Infrastructure

About the speaker