CYBERSECURITYCyberForce Competition Challenges College Students to Use Cybersecurity Skills to Defend Their Wind Energy System

By Jenna V. Wray

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) CyberForce Program will host its annual collegiate cybersecurity competition, challenging college and university teams from across the country to defend critical infrastructure systems from simulated cyberattacks. The event — the 10^th in one of the largest and longest running collegiate cyber competitions of its kind — will be held Nov. 8-9 in St. Charles, Illinois.

This year’s CyberForce Competition challenge focuses on a wind energy generation scenario. Teams will work to keep a wind power system running while simultaneously defending against potential cyberattacks. Failure could lead to a breakdown in energy supply, highlighting the real-world impact of system breaches and teaching valuable lessons that students might not otherwise encounter in their academic studies.

The event, led by DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, gives students hands-on experience at the intersection of cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, like energy systems.

“As we undergo an energy transition, it is critical that we build a strong cyber workforce to ensure the next generation of energy systems are built, maintained and operated with cybersecurity in mind,” said Puesh M. Kumar, director of CESER. “The CyberForce Competition helps grow cyber defenders who will help us secure U.S. energy systems of today, and the future.”

Check out a short video about the competition!

What Makes the CyberForce Competition Unique?

·  Realistic scenarios: Competitors will be tasked to defend an energy critical infrastructure system with real-world constraints and anomalies, simulating problems they may face in a real-world work environment.

·  Virtual cyber-physical infrastructure: The consequence of a compromised network becomes more apparent to students while they defend their virtual cyber-physical devices. This raises awareness of the nexus between critical infrastructure and cybersecurity.

·  Innovation, applicability and system security: In addition to encouraging teamwork and creative strategies, the competition stresses the importance of system usability. It encourages teams to think creatively in developing strategies that ensure user friendly systems, while also keeping the infrastructure secured from attacks.

·  Teamwork: Collaboration will help students develop essential soft skills they need in addition to technical know-how.

“Students from U.S. colleges and universities will compete on small teams to battle unique challenges that threaten to take down a virtual wind energy plant,” said Amanda Theel, Workforce Development Group Leader in Argonne’s Strategic Security Sciences division. “The excitement and energy in the room is unlike any other competition I have been a part of, and I know the students get very competitive about thinking strategically and working collaboratively to defend their systems.”

Theel has helped lead the DOE’s CyberForce Competition since its inception in 2016. She estimates that nearly 3,000 students have competed in CyberForce Competitions since DOE launched the innovative test of cyber skills.

The goal of the CyberForce Program is to inspire and train the next generation of cybersecurity experts for the energy sector. Alongside this team competition, students can also participate individually in virtual Conquer the Hill challenges. The CyberForce Program also offers students other ways to learn more about cybersecurity careers, including virtual career fairs and webinars. For more information about the DOE’s CyberForce Program, visit https://cyberforce.energy.gov.

Jenna V. Wray is an Argonne National Laboratory journalist. The article was originally posted to the website of Argonne National Laboratory.