The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Georgia Tech researchers a $4.6 million grant to develop improved cybersecurity protection for renewable energy technologies. 

Associate Professor Saman Zonouz will lead the project and leverage the latest artificial technology (AI) to create Phorensics. The new tool will anticipate cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and provide analysts with an accurate reading of what vulnerabilities were exploited. 

“This grant enables us to tackle one of the crucial challenges facing national security today: our critical infrastructure resilience and post-incident diagnostics to restore normal operations in a timely manner,” said Zonouz.

“Together with our amazing team, we will focus on cyber-physical data recovery and post-mortem forensics analysis after cybersecurity incidents in emerging renewable energy systems.”

As the integration of renewable energy technology into national power grids increases, so does their vulnerability to cyberattacks. These threats put energy infrastructure at risk and pose a significant danger to public safety and economic stability. The AI behind Phorensics will allow analysts and technicians to scale security efforts to keep up with a growing power grid that is becoming more complex.

This effort is part of the Security of Engineering Systems (SES) initiative at Georgia Tech’s School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP). SES has three pillars: research, education, and testbeds, with multiple ongoing large, sponsored efforts. 

“We had a successful hiring season for SES last year and will continue filling several open tenure-track faculty positions this upcoming cycle,” said Zonouz.

“With top-notch cybersecurity and engineering schools at Georgia Tech, we have begun the SES journey with a dedicated passion to pursue building real-world solutions to protect our critical infrastructures, national security, and public safety.”

Zonouz is the director of the Cyber-Physical Systems Security Laboratory (CPSec) and is jointly appointed by Georgia Tech’s School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).

The three Georgia Tech researchers joining him on this project are Brendan Saltaformaggio, associate professor in SCP and ECE; Taesoo Kim, jointly appointed professor in SCP and the School of Computer Science; and Animesh Chhotaray, research scientist in SCP.

Katherine Davis, associate professor at the Texas A&M University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has partnered with the team to develop Phorensics. The team will also collaborate with the NREL National Lab, and industry partners for technology transfer and commercialization initiatives. 

The Energy Department defines renewable energy as energy from unlimited, naturally replenished resources, such as the sun, tides, and wind. Renewable energy can be used for electricity generation, space and water heating and cooling, and transportation.