VISA Workshop Hosted at Texas RE

The Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) helps to ensure grid reliability by providing the electric industry with quality analysis and security information to mitigate threats to the grid. To better fulfill its mission, the E-ISAC offers mitigation tools and resources, and routinely engages in robust educational outreach such as the Vulnerability of Integrated Security Analysis (VISA) Workshop. This multi-day event walks participants through customized threat scenarios including site visits conducted by industry professionals to help teach attendees how to apply the VISA tool and methodology across their critical assets. Historically, these workshops have been conducted on behalf of a single utility, but in August, Texas RE was the first Regional Entity to host one of the events.

The pilot workshop hosted by Texas RE, in partnership with E-ISAC and Austin Energy, was a first-of-its-kind opportunity to share the benefits of customized risk mitigation training with entities of various scales, including local law enforcement and state and federal agencies. The training included both insider and outsider threat scenarios designed to highlight actionable opportunities to strengthen resilience. Additionally, participants from across the industry were able to collaborate on best practices to come to a shared understanding of the threat landscape.

Texas RE was honored to have been the first Regional Entity to host a VISA workshop. E-ISAC plans to host additional workshops in the other Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) Enterprise regions in 2027. For more information on participating in or hosting a VISA workshop, contact visa@eisac.com.