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Pennsylvania is a major U.S. energy producer, exporting more electricity than any other U.S. state.
However, the infrastructure that protects these different energy sources has become digital, and protecting it from cyberattacks requires more than just improving IT cybersecurity.
Since 2018, cyberattacks in the United States have grown rapidly and resulted in large-scale data breaches and other security threats. To address these growing concerns, the White House released the National Security Strategy in March 2023, calling for improvements in cybersecurity measures and practices across the country.
The University of Pittsburgh has received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the Cyber Energy Center, a collaborative ecosystem for the regional energy industry and stakeholders to help improve cybersecurity in the region’s energy systems. The center’s work will expand beyond Pennsylvania to include 21 utilities in 13 states.
Daniel Cole, principal investigator and associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Pitt, explained: “The pandemic has contributed to Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate at a time when we need to strengthen cybersecurity more than ever. surge.” “As geopolitical tensions increase, we also need to remain vigilant for cybersecurity threats that could impact our nation’s energy infrastructure.”
The center will bring together interdisciplinary research experts from the Pitt Swanson School of Engineering, the School of Computing and Informatics, the Energy Center, the Energy Grid Institute, the School of Public and International Affairs, and the Institute for Legal Policy and Security to provide a portfolio of expertise. Includes artificial intelligence and machine learning, grid engineering, law and policy, and energy-efficient computing.
“Cybersecurity is critical to the functioning of our society,” said Erica Owen, associate dean and professor at Pitt’s School of Public and International Affairs and a member of the center. “Both the energy sector and the federal government are concerned about how cyber incidents affect health, the environment, climate and public safety. For the energy industry, this not only affects their business, but also affects public welfare.”
Pete has always been at the forefront of cybersecurity. In January 2024, Mai Abdelhakim, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Swanson School of Engineering and a member of the center, testified before two legislative committees at the Penn State Capitol in Harrisburg in response to recent cyber attacks on Penn Digital attack. infrastructure. Last summer, Cole led a group of Pitt students with the Idaho National Laboratory in a program called the Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Experience with the Grid, or SHURE-Grid, through Pitt schools. A multidisciplinary effort to develop solutions to protect the grid.
The center’s research will address how to better integrate information technology and operational technology to meet industry needs, enable better intrusion detection and tolerance through the use of modern tools such as digital twins, improve modeling and implementation of real-world applications, and identify Energy barrier providers when deciding on a strong cybersecurity plan.
More than 20 industry partners will work with center and Department of Energy leadership and serve on industry advisory committees to help define, shape and guide the center’s research programs to ensure its activities provide value and satisfy the energy industry.
To expand the center’s reach nationally, it will offer an array of education and workforce development programs that will provide Pitt students with in-depth, experiential learning opportunities that allow them to solve current problems for industry partners. Replicating this innovative program across the country will provide companies across the country with the latest solutions and a workforce capable of responding to rapidly changing threats.
The center will also work with local community colleges to bring cybersecurity courses into the classroom and create training opportunities, focused on economically disadvantaged communities, to allow an entry-level skilled workforce to learn the skills needed for cybersecurity.
“All of this creates a research and education ecosystem that will create the next generation of tools and technologies to improve safety, provide educational opportunities for professionals, and provide diversity for these new innovations across the region and country,” Cole said. Cultural workforce development.”
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