The University of Connecticut is leading a new cybersecurity initiative that brings together institutions and experts from across the Northeast to develop and educate students on energy system cybersecurity.
UConn's effort is one of six university-based cybersecurity centers to receive a gift from the U.S. Department of Energy to address gaps in energy security research. UConn's project, called Cyber CARED, will receive $2.5 million in funding from the federal government over the next two years, as well as his $1.1 million from industry players, according to UConn Today.
CyberCARED is operated from Eversource Energy Center. Junbo Zhao, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and associate director of the Eversource Energy Center, said the initial goal of the project was to connect experts in the field with various universities in the Northeast. Told.
“Ultimately, we will have a unified platform that can be used for further research, development and education,” Zhao said.
Another goal explained by Zhao was to strengthen education on energy system security. He said that while many universities had cybersecurity courses, there was no major program targeting cybersecurity for energy systems.
“The second goal is actually to build a colloquium in our region. Right now, there is no colloquium on energy system cybersecurity,” Zhao said.
Zhao said the center also hopes to build a testbed to simulate real-world cyberattacks for training and research purposes.
“Testbeds can also be used to educate students. For example, you can ask students to implement different cyberattacks or design different types of detection chain reaction approaches, where they are tested. ,” Zhao said. “That way they can gain practical experience.”
Zhao said UConn is partnering with industry players such as Eversource to bring energy security experts into its cybersecurity program.
“Eversource provides a wealth of technical support, with experts contributing to the development of innovative technologies that can solve difficult problems today and in the future,” Zhao said.
The effort will be run from the Eversource Energy Center in Storrs. He is currently scheduled to be released in early May, according to UConn Today.
According to Zhao, the CyberCARED center also aims to open certification courses where people can learn skills that will be useful in their jobs.
“You can have three or four courses on cybersecurity for energy systems. Once you take the course, you will have basic knowledge and someday you will be able to use it in your work,” Zhao said. Told.
Mr. Zhao also said that the CyberCARED Center looks forward to promoting student participation to ultimately “develop the workforce needed in the region.” The center aims to host workshops that ideally involve students from across the Northeast.
“We hold industry engagement workshops to invite these industries to come to UConn and discuss challenges and solutions and roadmaps,” Zhao said.
Chao said UConn has the right background and connections to lead this effort in the Northeast.
“We have a tradition of doing cybersecurity, we have a tradition and expertise doing energy resiliency and security, so I think it's very unique to lead this center in this region,” Zhao said. Stated.
