DOE to Bolster Grid Cyber Security with $30M
About $30 million will be spent on the development of new tools and technologies to strengthen protection of the nation’s electric grid and oil and gas infrastructure from cyber attack, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced today.
The funds will go to 11 projects undertaken by energy sector organizations in California, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington State. They will be spent mostly to develop new systems, frameworks, and services that help bolster more resilient energy delivery control systems.
The 11 projects are:
ABB Inc.
DOE share: $ 2,765,733; Recipient share: $ 936,793
ABB will develop a system that allows substation devices to work together to validate the integrity of communications, such as commands to change a protective relay’s configuration, and assess the potential impact on grid operations.
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
DOE share: $ 1,524,959; Recipient share: $ 529,384 EPRI will develop a framework that allows utilities to centrally manage the remote configuration of their energy delivery system devices – regardless of vendor or age – more securely.
Foxguard Solutions
DOE share: $ 3,298,893; Recipient share: $ 1,003,399 Foxguard will develop a service that allows utilities to simplify the process of keeping up-to-date with the most current firmware and software patches and updates.
Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation
DOE share: $ 3,283,063; Recipient share: $ 1,726,000 Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation will develop a technology that evaluates energy delivery system control commands to anticipate their impact on power grid operations and, if needed, implement cybersecurity responses to prevent disruptions.
Grid Protection Alliance
DOE share: $ 2,213,000; Recipient share: $ 637,000 The Grid Protection Alliance will develop an architecture that enables more secure substation communications for data generated by legacy or modern energy delivery devices.
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
DOE share: $ 3,620,725; Recipient share: $ 1,137,367 NRECA will develop a network that allows utilities and small electric cooperatives with limited resources to centrally manage their networks more securely.
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
DOE share: $ 2,094,599; Recipient share: $ 845,140 Schweitzer will develop an integrated cyber-physical access control system that simplifies the process of managing access to energy delivery facilities.
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
DOE share: $ 3,771,371; Recipient share: $ 1,068,807 Schweitzer will develop a radio platform for more secure “last mile” wireless communications used with remote energy delivery infrastructure such as distribution substations.
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
DOE share: $ 3,892,170; Recipient share: $ 1,248,207 Schweitzer will develop software that allows utilities to centrally manage their local area networks more securely, providing real-time awareness of cyber activity and rerouting network traffic in response to cyber intrusions.
TT Government Solutions
DOE share: $ 956,560; Recipient share: $ 324,205 TT Government Solutions will develop a technology that analyzes and visualizes smart meter wireless communications to quickly detect unusual behavior that could suggest a cyber attack.
Viasat
DOE share: $ 3,250,000; Recipient share: $ 3,301,163 Viasat will develop an architecture that gives utilities awareness of the status of their energy delivery systems’ cybersecurity, and allows them to automatically respond to cyber intrusions as predetermined in the utility’s cybersecurity policy.
Sources: POWER, DOE