By John McHale
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) received a second round of funding this week from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue a multiyear cyber security program.
The Control System Security Center will receive $11.7 million in 2005 to continue its efforts to secure the computer-aided control systems that operate the nation’s critical infrastructures. Control systems are the digital automation systems that operate infrastructures such as the electric power grid, oil and gas refineries, and telecommunication systems, DHS officials say.
The program was initially given $10 million in May 2004. With that funding, INL installed multiple full-scale control-system components; hired employees with expertise in control systems and critical infrastructure industry sectors; hosted an awareness conference for industry, vendors, and government officials; conducted training sessions; engaged industry and vendor user groups at conferences and forums; and established partnerships with other national laboratories.
The program also renovated an existing facility with state-of-the-art cyber security tools, routers, firewalls, and testing bays, and signed research and development agreements with other national and international control-system and component vendors.
“This year we plan to focus our efforts on establishing baseline security assurance levels and cyber recommendations to increase industry security,” says Julio Rodriguez, INL department manager for Critical Infrastructure Assurance. “We’re at the point where industry is beginning to recognize the potential threats of unsecured control systems and they are more willing to work with government agencies to improve the security of the nation’s critical infrastructures.”
“Control systems typically use off-the-shelf operating systems that are more complex and expensive to upgrade, deploy patches for more than traditional computers, and often lack sufficient security measures such as firewalls and antivirus software,” Rodriquez adds.
DHS selected INL for this project because of its expertise in design, assessments, and operational management of control systems across several industrial sectors, DHS officials say. The Control Systems Security Center has utilized INL’s management capabilities to establish partnerships with Sandia, Pacific Northwest, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, as well as universities and private industry experts to develop tools and solutions to improve control systems security.
Idaho National Laboratory is one of DOE’s multiyear-program national laboratories and performs work in each of the strategic goal areas of DOE-energy, national security, science and environment. The Laboratory is the nation’s leading center of nuclear-energy research and development that is managed and operated by Battelle Energy Alliance.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) Directorate serves as the focal point for intelligence analysis, infrastructure protection operations, and information sharing.
