The Dallas Morning News reports: “To hear cybersecurity companies tell it, the U.S. energy industry is a ticking time bomb.”

“Smart electric meters on the sides of houses can be entryways for cyberterrorists to shut off a city’s power grid. Remote-controlled valves in oil refineries can be manipulated to cause costly spills.”

“As reports of hacking perpetuate around the globe, security and technology firms are rushing to introduce high-tech products and services to protect power plants, pipelines and oil companies from cyberattack.”

“The emerging business could soon be worth billions of dollars a year as agencies including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission order companies to better protect the infrastructure.”

“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security maintains a cybersecurity team that responds to hacking attacks in the country’s private sector. Of the almost 200 cases it handled last year, more than 40 percent were in the energy sector, according to an agency report.”