DEF CON 33 - Fear vs Physics: Diagnosing Grid Chaos - Emma Stewart
Source: YouTube · DEFCONConference · published Oct 10, 2025 · 20:06
Emma Stewart, an electrical engineer with 20 years of power systems experience, explains how physics rather than cyber attacks typically cause power grid failures 0:00.
Key Takeaways:
• Power outages are typically caused by physical factors like animals, weather, and equipment failure, not cyber attacks - no US blackout has ever been caused by a cyber attack 3:09
• The 2023 Spain/Portugal blackout was wrongly attributed to cyber attacks but was actually caused by dispatch errors, voltage fluctuations, and oscillations that led to system collapse 4:33
• Power systems shutting down is often a protective mechanism to prevent equipment damage, not necessarily a sign of attack 8:36
• Fear-mongering about cyber attacks distracts from addressing actual vulnerabilities and leads to misallocated resources 15:53
The talk emphasizes the importance of understanding the physics of power systems rather than jumping to cyber attack conclusions 17:34.
Sources:
Generate CPE Credits
Generate a professional CPE document from this video's transcript.
Estimated credit: 0.5 CPE hours
Estimate uses the video runtime (1 hour ≈ 1 CPE, rounded to the nearest 0.5, minimum 0.5, maximum 2.0). The final amount can be lower after review, never higher.
Topic: Cybersecurity. Commonly maps to: Security and Risk Management, Security Operations. Exact CISSP domains are assigned during generation.
Free account. One generation at a time, with a daily limit.
CPEBuddy is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by ISC2, ISACA, or any certification body. Exports are formatted for common CPE submissions; acceptance is at your certification body's discretion.
Transcript Preview
First 800 characters of the transcript
So, hi. I'm uh Emma Stewart. I'm here to talk about something I called fear versus physics. I now have a fear of AV services. So, you know, here we are. Um I am a well I've got nice pictures that I explain here of what I am. I'm an electrical engineer. Um I've been doing this about 20 years. I have worked in power systems across multiple countries. Um right now I work for Idaho National Lab. I'm the chie grid scientist. Um but my education I'm one of those people that did a PhD in electrical engineering, so don't judge me. But uh I also have a masters in electric mechanical. Um but I've worked at a few national labs. I've done things like instant response for the electric grid for about 20 years at this point. If you could see the picture, I have a picture of me from 20 years ago when I wo…