Auburn University's McCrary Institute for Cyber ​​and Critical Infrastructure Security, in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been awarded a $10 million grant from the Department of Energy to pilot a regional cybersecurity research and operations center to protect the electric grid from cyberattacks.

The total cost of the project is $12.5 million, with an additional $2.5 million provided by Auburn University and other strategic partners.

Officially known as the Southeast Regional Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, the center will bring together private sector, academic and government experts to share information and develop innovative, real-world solutions to protect the nation's power grid and other key sectors. The center will also include a mock utility command center to train participants in real-time cyber defense.

“Auburn University is proud to be at the forefront of this critical field confronting one of the greatest threats facing our nation and our business community in the future,” said Steve Taylor, Auburn University's senior vice president for research and economic development. “The center will conduct important research and provide real operational solutions to protect all of us as we address these challenges. We thank Oak Ridge National Laboratory for partnering with us and Rep. Mike Rogers for helping secure funding for this important program.”

The center will collaborate with industry partners to conduct experiments in a laboratory environment and help integrate new and existing security software and hardware into production environments. Labs will be located at Auburn University (within the Samuel Ginn School of Engineering) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Auburn University on this important national mission,” said Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Steven Striefer. “We are partnering with industry to bring together our capabilities to develop new security technologies and transfer that technology to industry, while simultaneously developing the workforce that will operate these enhanced systems.”

Workforce and skills development will be a central role for Auburn in this partnership.

“This project provides an exciting opportunity for our university and our students,” said Mario Eden, dean of the Samuel Ginn School of Engineering. “Our students will gain hands-on experience in a real-world environment. We have a track record of innovation, and this project aligns perfectly with our mission to provide the best student-centered engineering experience in the nation and to expand engineering knowledge through research.”

This research, with a focus on critical infrastructure, will help utilities across the nation become more resilient against the growing threat of cyber attacks.

“We know adversaries would love the ability to disrupt our energy infrastructure, which could be devastating to our communities,” said Mo Khalil, associate director of ORNL's National Security Science Laboratory. “SERC3 will focus on establishing regional partnerships and developing scientific solutions to mitigate these threats and keep the electricity going for everyone.”

Puesh M. Kumar, director of the Department of Energy's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Preparedness, praised the collaboration between the organizations.

“I applaud the collaborative efforts of Auburn University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to advance cybersecurity for the grid,” Kumar said. “Countering the growing cyber threats facing the U.S. energy sector from bad actors and nation states like the People's Republic of China requires everyone to work together — industry, national laboratories, academia, state and federal governments. This partnership is an important example of that.”

McCrary Institute Director Frank Siluffo said the project is central to the institute's work.

“A safe and resilient electric grid is a national and regional imperative,” Cilluffo said. “With McCrary's James Goosby and Oak Ridge's Tricia Schultz spearheading this work, we will conduct new research to rapidly identify, share and mitigate cybersecurity risks while developing the future workforce needed to keep us safe.”