UA Little Rock receives $1 million energy grant for cyberattack focus
by May 30, 2023 10:20 am 853 views
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock received $1 million Tuesday (May 30) to expand its Emerging Threat Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ET-ISAC). The university will use the money in combination with several partners to strengthen protection from cybersecurity attacks in the energy sector.
The project is supported with a $1 million award from the Department of Energy’s Office of Cyber Security, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER).
Through the already operational Forge Institute Emerging Threat Center, the money will enhance collaboration between electric utilities and partners from the energy sector to advance practices in cybersecurity threat sharing throughout the mid-South region of the country.
The center’s goals focus on increasing workforce development, creating education and training for securing energy sector control systems, and advancing cybersecurity threat intelligence sharing practices.
“The energy sector, and electric utilities, in particular, are on the front lines when it comes to nation-state cybersecurity attacks,” said Dr. Philip Huff, assistant professor of cybersecurity at UA Little Rock and principal investigator on the grant. “They are often among the first targeted because they provide critical services to society and are relied on by all other critical infrastructure sectors. It is especially important that we have cybersecurity protections for these services in place.”
“The new Emerging Threat Information Sharing and Analysis Center is an exceptional example of the collaboration needed to enhance energy security on a regional level in the United States,” said Puesh Kumar, CESER director. “My office is proud to support this effort to advance workforce development, training and threat sharing capabilities, all of which are essential to our continued success in the face of ever-evolving cyber threats. I applaud the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for involving students in this initiative as it presents a unique learning opportunity and supports the realization of a skilled cybersecurity workforce for the challenges of tomorrow.”
The center brings together a consortium of universities, cybersecurity experts, electric utilities and energy sector partners through the Cybersecurity Consortium for Innovation (CCI), led by the Forge Institute. This project provides services for utilities and power system operators throughout the region, including the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, Arkansas Public Power Utilities, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Entergy, Midwest ISO and Southwest Power Pool.
“This federal funding and collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, and other partners, enables thoughtful engagement, training, and capability development to support the needs of energy sector organizations, including municipally owned utilities,” Forge Institute Chairman and CEO Lee Watson said. “Our goal is to refine and improve a next-generation information sharing and analysis collaboration that will help critical infrastructure entities share information through a trusted community with a clear goal of being one step ahead of our adversaries providing enhanced situational awareness.”
During a May 23rd meeting of consortium partners, UA Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale and Forge Institute signed on to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy national laboratory and leading center for power grid cybersecurity resilience and nuclear energy research and development.
This agreement between Idaho National Laboratory and Forge Institute on behalf of CCI will result in collaboration for cybersecurity threat sharing and analysis, industrial cybersecurity labs for training and exercises, and training and workforce development.