Portland State University landed a $2 million grant from the National Security Agency to study cybersecurity issues surrounding smart grid infrastructure for the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and Colorado.
The two-year grant will be co-led by Birol Yesilada, director of the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government; Tugrul Daim, PSU engineering and technology management faculty; and Barbara Endicott-Popovsky, executive director of the Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity at the University of Washington-Bothell.
The team will create a consortium of public, private and academic partners to assess cybersecurity issues of this critical infrastructure.
“For the federal government, much of the focus has been on upgrading and securing the top level of infrastructure from cyberattacks,” Yesilada said in a written statement. “We need a top-down approach, but we also need a bottom-up approach if we’re going to protect what I call ‘America’s soft underbelly’ —the vulnerabilities at local and regional governments, utilities and special districts serving the communities we live in.”
The smart grid refers to an electric grid that allows communication not just from the utility to the end user but back the other way as well from the user to the utility. It’s a connection that is susceptible to attack.
“This is the start of many years of work,” said Daim in a written statement.
According to the university, this program will evaluate risks and challenges through workshops with partners such as the Bonneville Power Administration, Departments of Energy and Defense, and utilities like Portland General Electric. Researchers will develop technology roadmaps to address the findings.
Stakeholders will hold exercises to develop response plans and advocate for policy changes or other investments and technology needed in order to bring plans to fruition.
