MRI:Acquisition of a Network Emulator for Cyber Security Research of Electric Power Grids

该NSF MRI项目旨在为购买网络通信和网络攻击联合模拟工具寻求资金，以提高新墨西哥大学（UNM）及其合作者的电网网络安全研究能力。该项目将通过为电网设计和创建网络攻击检测和缓解算法和技术，为确保国防安全带来革命性的变化。这将通过利用所需的联合仿真工具来实现，该工具有助于高保真度和可扩展的网络系统建模。该项目的智力优势包括对分布式控制体系结构、保护系统、高级计量基础设施和相量测量单元进行网络安全研究。此外，所要求的联合仿真工具将用于研究电网网络攻击的社会影响。该项目的更广泛影响包括增强新墨西哥大学及其合作者的网络安全研究能力和竞争力，加强现有课程和新课程的开发，让代表性不足的学生参与研究，以及K-12的推广。由于在微电网分布式控制、能源管理系统以及广域保护、控制和监测等不同应用中部署了通信和控制技术，现代电力系统高度暴露于网络威胁之下。对电网等大型网络物理系统（CPS）的网络安全问题进行研究，不可能将网络攻击应用到实际系统中进行研究和分析。为了有效地研究和分析电网中的网络威胁，一个能够同时模拟物理层（即电力系统）和网络层（即通信网络）的实时硬件在环联合仿真平台至关重要。所要求的联合仿真工具将为我们提供可扩展的解决方案，以在数字孪生平台中模拟电网的网络层，并进行各种不同的网络安全研究。联合模拟工具将为在电网网络安全领域扩展与工业、国家实验室和其他大学的合作研究活动奠定基础。该工具将被多个院系及其学生和博士后在不同机构的教育和研究活动中使用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This NSF MRI project aims to seek funding for purchasing network communication and cyber-attack co-simulation tool to increase the power grid’s cybersecurity research capacity at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and its collaborators. The project will bring transformative change to secure the national defense by designing and creating cyber-attack detection and mitigation algorithms and techniques for power grids. This will be achieved by utilizing the requested co-simulation tool which facilitates high-fidelity and scalable modeling of cyber systems. The intellectual merits of the project include performing cybersecurity studies on the distributed control architectures, protection systems, advanced metering infrastructure, and phasor measurement units. Moreover, the requested co-simulation tool will be utilized to study the societal impacts of power grid cyber-attacks. The broader impacts of the project include enhanced cybersecurity research capability and competitiveness at UNM and its collaborators, enhancement of existing and development of new courses, research involvement of underrepresented students, and K-12 outreach. Modern power systems are highly exposed to cyber threats due to the deployment of communication and control technologies for different applications like microgrid distributed control, energy management systems, as well as wide-area protection, control, and monitoring. To perform research on the cybersecurity of a large-scale cyber-physical system (CPS) like a power grid, it is impossible to apply, study, and analyze cyber-attacks on a real system. To effectively study and analyze cyber threats in power grids, a real-time hardware-in-the-loop co-simulation platform that can simulate both the physical (i.e., power system) and cyber (i.e., communication network) layers is of paramount value. The requested co-simulation tool will provide us with a scalable solution to emulate the cyber layer of power grids in a digital twin platform and conduct a variety of different cybersecurity studies. The co-simulation tool will set the foundation for extending collaborative research activities with industry, national laboratories, and other universities in the area of power grid cybersecurity. This tool will be utilized by multiple faculties and their students and postdoctoral fellows across different institutions for education and research activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.