Digitization is one of the central development dynamics of our time. This extends to the energy industry, where numerous digital applications are being developed and implemented, for example, in energy-management systems or smart grids. At the same time, digital applications create new types of threat scenarios. Apart from simple operational failures due to errors or disruptions in the IT infrastructure, digital applications are threatened by criminal attacks.

Since the energy industry plays an essential role in the functioning of modern societies, a failure or disruption of the energy supply would have considerable effects. Therefore the energy industry is considered to be one of the critical infrastructures (KRITIS). In a study, IKEM examines whether the increasing digitization results in regulatory deficits and develops proposals for the amendment of the regulatory framework for critical infrastructures.