"Emerging Tech Can Protect Critical Infrastructure From Cyberattacks"

The US President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) met on November 9 to hear expert opinions on how to better build a cyber-resilient digital infrastructure at the national level, with current government officials backing a combination of emerging technologies and risk mitigation. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has led efforts to fortify critical infrastructure using advanced data analytics and cybersecurity technology. Kathleen Fisher, DARPA's Information Innovation Office director, described an experiment in which her office developed sensor tools for power grids to distinguish cyberattacks from weather incidents. Failures caused by nature and accidents are very different from failures caused by cyber adversaries, she said during her presentation, emphasizing that cyber adversaries can make the system lie. In their Rapid Attack Detection, Isolation, and Characterization Systems (RADICS) program, DARPA tested a new sensor and corresponding algorithm to model power grids. RADICS successfully trained power engineers to black start a compromised power grid or restore a portion of an electric grid to operation without external power. The RADICS technology was created to detect incorrect data, isolate compromised communication channels and nodes, and implement new traffic analyses and Information Technology (IT) protocols. According to Fisher, DARPA's RADICS algorithm is now being used by several utility companies and independent state system operators. A key feature allowed electrical grid operators to conduct forensic analyses using both software and hardware to assess cyberattacks on a system and help restore grid operations in a timely manner. This article continues to discuss the RADICS program and the need for a combination of emerging technologies and risk mitigation for a cyber-resilient digital infrastructure.

GCN reports "Emerging Tech Can Protect Critical Infrastructure From Cyberattacks"