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Eastern WA Researchers Fight Cyber Threats at Aging U.S. Hydropower System
- Scientists based in the Tri-Cities at a U.S. Department of Energy research center are developing strategies to defend the country’s long-standing hydropower infrastructure against cyberattacks.
- This effort responds to the vulnerability of federally managed hydropower projects, which average about 65 years old and require adaptation to evolving cyber risks.
- PNNL developed a cyber-physical framework, a step-by-step guide for cyberattack response, and training platforms called skids that simulate hydropower operations for safe cybersecurity exercises.
- An award-winning palm-sized device called SerialTap, created by PNNL experts Eric Choi and Thomas Edgar, enables monitoring of older control systems and detection of network anomalies across 85 hydro facilities.
- These initiatives aim to enhance grid reliability by securing hydropower’s dispatchable power, which generates over 60 percent of Washington’s electricity and nearly 6 percent of the nation’s total.
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Researchers fight cyber threats at aging US hydropower system
Washington generates more hydroelectricity than any other state, so it is fitting that research to protect the critical infrastructure responsible for generating this power is happening right here in the Tri-Cities, at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
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