Upcoming webinar: Why connecting private power to the grid exposes SA critical infrastructure to mounting cyber threats

As the grid decentralises, its digital footprint is expanding exponentially. (Image: Fortinet)

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The rapid transformation of South Africa’s energy sector is delivering the physical stability the nation has long fought for. As the grid decentralises, however, its digital footprint is expanding exponentially. The urgent task facing the industry now is to keep this modern network secure amid escalating cyber threats to physical infrastructure.

With billions of rands flowing into grid expansion and the integration of private power, the real test of this new energy architecture is as much about digital resilience as it is about the megawatts it carries. In a decentralised system, every connection point between an independent power producer (IPP) and the public grid represents a potential entry point for cyber adversaries.

To explore these critical vulnerabilities and define a unified security blueprint, Fortinet, which positions itself as a cyber security leader, will host an exclusive webinar on 22 July. Featuring renowned independent energy analyst Chris Yelland and Martin Fernandes, Business Development Manager for Operational Technology (OT) at Fortinet, the session will deliver a critical breakdown of the blind spots in digitally integrated national infrastructure roll-outs, as well as practical strategies for securing converged IT and OT environments.

Register here to secure your virtual seat for this essential industry discussion.

The transition to a decentralised grid is a transition from isolated physical assets to hyper-connected digital ones. To manage the bidirectional flow of electricity and the intermittent nature of renewable energy, South African organisations are relying on a sophisticated, converged layer of IT and OT.

This integration is occurring at a time when South Africa has become a primary target for global cyber crime. Whether through cloud adoption for digital twins facilitating remote monitoring and predictive maintenance, or wind and solar farms connecting directly to the national transmission network, data flows are expanding. If cyber security controls across these public-private connection points are fragmented, a breach within a private provider's network could move laterally into national critical infrastructure.

The reality of this threat was demonstrated in an incident in Poland, which prompted a global alert from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in February 2026. Cyber adversaries targeted wind and solar sites, deploying destructive tools that crippled remote terminal units and wiped data on human-machine interfaces. While power production continued, the attack effectively blinded operators, stripping away their ability to monitor or control the generation sites remotely.

This global case study proves that in a modern grid, a breach at the edge can lead to a total loss of operational visibility unlike the threats faced in these OT environments before.

Securing converged environments requires bridging established organisational silos. Historically, IT and OT teams have operated with different priorities. IT teams focus on data confidentiality and software patching, while OT engineers prioritise physical safety, uptime and continuous operational continuity.

In a modern utility or heavy-industry organisation, neither perspective is sufficient on its own. If aggressive vulnerability scanning is deployed in an OT environment without validation, it can disrupt programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and cause unplanned downtime. Conversely, ignoring security updates on legacy machines because they are expected to run continuously for decades creates a permanent gateway for attackers.

The implementation of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (2019), which is now fully active, provides the legal framework to address these gaps. It ensures that every asset – from a municipal smart meter to a massive wind farm – is treated as a protected sovereign asset. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on this foundation, though.

The upcoming webinar on 22 July is designed as a collaborative forum for South African technology, engineering and security leaders. During the live panel, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in interactive benchmarking polls exploring the real-world operational challenges facing local organisations:

• OT visibility: Benchmarking how effectively local organisations can monitor OT-specific cyber threats in real-time.
• ICS accountability: Addressing the governance gap regarding who is held primarily accountable for the security of industrial control systems.
• Third-party risk: Evaluating the primary security concerns regarding the integration of IPPs and private generation projects into the national network.

By participating, attendees will also gain access to these preliminary data insights that will shape a subsequent national B2B research project on local human and technical risk management.

Securing the national power grid is a sovereign priority. Designing robust cyber security into the foundations of every new energy project is the only way to ensure South Africa’s energy transition remains an economic success.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday, 22 July.

Do not allow your organisation’s connection points to become the weak link in national infrastructure.

Click here to register for the "Digital threats to physical grids" webinar and secure your place.