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Illinois Tech is establishing the (2MC) through new funding from the United States Department of Energy.

The project aims to develop state-of-the-art cybersecurity software that is designed to protect the power grid, which has become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks as digitization and wireless technologies have created more entry points to electric power systems. Interruptions to electricity services due to cyberattacks happen globally on a regular basis, impacting everything from streetlights, trains, and elevators to hospitals and airports.

“Electricity is a very critical component of developed countries and societies, so we need to do everything that we can to protect it,” says Robert W. Galvin Electricity Innovation Endowed Chair Mohammad Shahidehpour, who is leading the 2MC project. Shahidehpour also serves as director of Illinois Tech’s Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation and associate director of Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER).

He will use his expertise in microgrid technology to explore ways to identify sections of the grid which are being attacked by cyber intrusion and apply methods such as watermarking, which allow microgrid operators to introduce pertinent mitigation strategies, meaning that even if an attacker gains entrance to one area, they will have limited ability to make the virus spread in the broader electric power systems.

Potential entry points to the grid are now ubiquitous; even a streetlight with a wireless sensor could be hacked.

“Basically, if you can control it wirelessly, an attacker can potentially access it, too,” says Shahidehpour.

The work done through 2MC will aim to create boundaries or virtual fences around sections of the grid, represented by microgrids, making it easier to control what goes in and comes out. The team, which includes power grid and cybersecurity experts from the Galvin Center at Illinois Tech and from Argonne National Laboratory, University of Illinois �糵����, and Commonwealth Edison Company, will be developing software that can be used at both the device level and microgrid level to achieve this security.

Shahidehpour has already created an existing sophisticated simulation of Illinois Tech’s campus microgrid, and the team will be utilizing it to test the software that it develops.

Firewalls are already in use, preventing many attempted attacks, but Shahidehpour says it’s critical to continue development as cyber attackers get “smarter and smarter and smarter,” in constant search of vulnerabilities in electric power systems.  

The team will also develop training for grid operators and other educational materials, including courses that will be implemented in Illinois Tech’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Acknowledgment: “This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number(s) DE-CR0000042.” 

Disclaimer: “This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.”