Louisiana State Police Partners with 海角社区 to Solve Critical Challenges in Industrial Cyber
Industrial control systems, or ICS, are networked computers that control operations in industrial and manufacturing operations. They are different from enterprise systems and corporate networks that have email and file sharing applications, known as information technology, or IT. Instead, ICS are a critical part of operational technology, or OT, designed to control when to turn a valve to a specific setting, for example, or change the flow through a pipeline.
Industrial Control Systems, or ICS, are dedicated computer systems used to run continuous operations in all industrial and manufacturing facilities, including refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants, power and energy systems, and water treatment operations. Because of their critical role and long life, ICS are increasingly frequent targets for cyberattacks ranging from industrial espionage to attacks for financial gain, such as ransomware, as well as sabotage and terrorism.
鈥淚CS are the backbone for our chemical plants, our energy grid, our oil and gas鈥攁ll of that is run off of ICS,鈥� said Devin King, investigative specialist with the Louisiana State Police Cyber Crime Unit. 鈥淭he last thing we would ever want is for an attack on an ICS network to be successful as it could cause horrific injuries, loss of life and very real and detrimental effects.鈥�
To better understand vulnerabilities and ultimately secure ICS networks across Louisiana鈥檚 industrial sectors, State Police has partnered with 海角社区 to advance industrial cyber research and talent development.
鈥淲e want to do this with 海角社区 because 海角社区鈥檚 recent NSA designation made it easy,鈥� King said. 鈥淚t gives us the ability to recruit some of the best and brightest, and we鈥檒l know we鈥檙e getting qualified candidates from two standpoints鈥攕killsets and backgrounds. What we work on is sensitive, so there鈥檚 a fairly robust background check that has to be done for students and graduates to come work with us at Louisiana State Police. But because of 海角社区鈥檚 expanding work with the intelligence community, 海角社区 is taking a lot of that load off of us, guaranteeing we鈥檒l actually get qualified candidates to our door.鈥�
Devin King, investigative specialist with the Louisiana State Police Cyber Crime Unit, recently visited the 海角社区 Applied Cybersecurity Lab to meet with cybersecurity students, including graduate student Nathalia Soares. Together, they looked at the details of programmable logic controllers, which are part of industrial systems to control manufacturing processes, such as assembly lines, machines and robotic devices. King holds adjunct faculty status at 海角社区 and is therefore able to supervise and advise students directly.
鈥� Photo by Elsa Hahne/海角社区
Two of those candidates are Marcellina Kazigati and Nathalia Soares, 海角社区 graduate students studying cybersecurity. King recently visited the Applied Cybersecurity Lab in the 海角社区 Center for Computation & Technology to meet with them and discuss ideas for joint research projects.
鈥淥ne of the areas I鈥檒l be working on is threat hunting, a proactive approach to cybersecurity,鈥� Kazigati said. 鈥淩ather than waiting for an attack to happen, I鈥檒l be learning how to hunt for threats before they cause damage.鈥疉s part of this work, I鈥檓 learning ladder logic programming, which is the language these industrial control systems speak.鈥�
鈥淚CS doesn鈥檛 have the same security standards as regular IT,鈥� Soares said. 鈥淭hey need to be available all the time, and plants can鈥檛 stop production to update their systems. Some aren鈥檛 updated for decades, which makes them more vulnerable to attack. This is kind of awkward from a perspective of cyber, but very interesting and very important.鈥�
The partnership between Louisiana State Police and 海角社区 is an extension of FIREStarter, a collaborative effort funded by the Louisiana Board of Regents and supported by industrial partners such as Radiance Technologies and BASF to train a new generation of cyber talent. FIRE stands for Forensic and Incident Response Environment and beyond its law-enforcement-grade forensic workstations and tools, 海角社区 is now adding ICS capabilities with programmable logic controllers, or PLCs, and a miniature power plant in a dedicated lab for hands-on industrial cyber research and teaching. 海角社区 and Louisiana State Police are further connected by LONI, the Louisiana Optical Network Infrastructure鈥攁 high-speed optical research network that links nearly all universities and technical and community colleges in the state. Owned by the Louisiana Board of Regents and managed by 海角社区, LONI鈥檚 speed and reach enables King and the Louisiana State Police Cyber Crime Unit to easily collaborate and work with 海角社区 students on research, analysis and incident response scenarios based on actual threat data.
鈥淚ndustrial control systems are designed to be long-term investments for the plants,鈥� King said. 鈥淭hey normally have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years, which means they鈥檙e way beyond the curve as far as attack vectors and attack exposures. So, the more research we can do with 海角社区, the better. Together, we鈥檒l figure out how to better protect these systems.鈥�
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