University cyber centers nab $15M in Energy Department funding

Six U.S. universities will be receiving a $15 million investment from the Department of Energy to strengthen energy sector cybersecurity by fostering research and workforce development, reports SecurityWeek.

Included among the recipients is the University of Connecticut, which would allocate funds toward addressing distributed energy resource-targeted cyberattacks. Bolstering defenses against intrusions aimed at DERs and microgrids are also being focused on by the Iowa State University and Illinois Institute of Technology.

Moreover, the Texas Tech University would be leveraging the funds to advance the development of a cyber-physical attack mitigation framework that prioritizes DER integration within the state's rural utilities, while the University of Pittsburgh would be evaluating cybersecurity protections through the use of digital twins.

On the other hand, further evaluation of the moving target defense technique as a cyberattack prevention measure would be conducted by the Florida International University on systems with easily switched communication channels.