Experts agree that power companies are making strides toward increasing the defensibility and readiness of the U.S. grid, but there is a ways to go. “We have certainly learned that current defenses should not be considered adequate when facing attackers who are experienced and equipped to target power systems,” wrote Assante, who has also worked in the leadership of American Electric Power and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.“We have to step up our game,” Painter ays. “Clearly there are malicious actors that want to mess with these systems, and I can’t say that we’ve done enough or that industry has done enough.”