John Smith
John
Smith directs the information technology function for Entergy’s five plants in
its rate-regulated service territory in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. In
this role since 1999, he is responsible for the IT infrastructure, applications,
and plant process computers. He administers a $5 million budget and supervises a
staff of 35 management and professional employees and 42 employees of SAIC, the
firm under contract to support IT service delivery for Entergy. Additionally,
Smith coordinates both with his counterpart in Entergy’s organization that
supports its five units in the Northeast to leverage Entergy’s IT infrastructure
and processes for efficiency and effectiveness, and with counterparts in
Entergy’s Corporate organizations, based in New Orleans.
Smith began his Entergy career in 1982 as a design engineer at then Arkansas Power & Light Company, supporting Arkansas Nuclear One, a dual unit plant located 75 miles northwest of Little Rock. He progressed through various engineering roles including positions in the consolidated nuclear headquarters, in Jackson, Mississippi, providing support to all five nuclear units in the South.
A Mississippi native, Smith graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1977 with a bachelor of science in English. He received nuclear training through the Navy’s Nuclear Power School and Prototype. He served in various capacities aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise and U.S.S. Arkansas prior to his honorable discharge in 1982. Smith also holds a professional engineer certification in mechanical engineering from the State of Arkansas.
Application of Cyber Security to the Commercial Nuclear Industry
According to the Office of Homeland Security, Al-Qaeda and other potential adversaries view critical infrastructure targets in the U.S. as attractive attack options because of their potentially significant economic and psychological impacts. These targets include energy facilities, as well as the electric power grids. The adversary has been defined as an individual, group, organization, or government that conducts activities, or has the intention and capability to conduct activities that may be detrimental to a nuclear power plant or its assets. Adversaries may include disgruntled insiders or former insiders, hackers, crackers, computer criminals, terrorists, industrial espionage agents, foreign espionage agents, and cyber warriors. Although much of the work at nuclear power stations involves physical plant security, IT groups, in conjunction with NEI and NRC have also taken action to develop a defensive model that can be implemented at each nuclear site. This model attempts to balance the need to secure the critical data assets while enhancing effective plant operations by providing data to a broad range of users. This presentation provides the background for the issues confronting nuclear power plant IT organizations and provides information about securing their cyber-space.