Distributed energy resources, or DER, are smaller energy assets that sit close to where power is used and can also interact with the grid. Examples include solar plants, batteries, microgrids, and other distributed generation systems. They are often connected through inverters, controllers, remote monitoring tools, and utility interfaces, which makes them cyber-physical systems rather than simple electrical equipment.
DER matter in cyber security because a weak device or account can affect more than one site, especially when assets are centrally managed. Attackers may target telemetry, remote access, firmware updates, or control commands to disrupt output, hide faults, or change how equipment behaves. Defenders protect DER by discovering all assets, segmenting networks, enforcing strong authentication, and monitoring control traffic and configuration changes. In practice, securing DER is about preserving both electrical reliability and trust in the data and commands that drive connected energy systems.