Each year, Oak Ridge National Laboratory gives teams of college students from around the Southeast the opportunity to put their cybersecurity skills to the test in a real-world setting as part of the US Department of Energy’s collegiate CyberForce Competition.
Student teams across the country compete simultaneously at 10 of the DOE’s national laboratories in the event, which aims to inspire and cultivate the next generation of cybersecurity professionals in the energy sector.
Teams compete to defend simulated energy infrastructure – such as a solar power plant, an electric grid system, manufacturing facilities or a high-performance computer system – from attacks by “red teams” of industry professionals while maintaining service for “green team” customers played by volunteers. Scenarios include simulated industrial control system components, real-world anomalies and constraints, and interaction with users of the systems.
ORNL staff serve as judges and score each team on how well its members protect the infrastructure while keeping the system running. Winners are declared at each lab site and at the national level.
“This competition teaches students real-world cybersecurity skills on how to prepare for, monitor and respond to attacks on their infrastructure,” said Jeffrey A. Nichols, the ORNL event organizer and a cybersecurity scientist in the Cyber and Applied Data Analytics Division. “The national labs benefit by making direct connections with top students and university mentors.”
The DOE held the first competition in 2016. ORNL has acted as a host since 2018.
At the most recent competition Nov. 15-16, 2019, ORNL hosted 13 college teams of more than 100 students and their mentors. The University of Florida team won at ORNL and placed third nationally.
The students were given tours of the Lab, met with staff members from their schools, and were recruited to job opportunities at ORNL and in the DOE.
The competition is co-funded by the DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response; Office of Electricity; Office of Science; Office of the Chief Information Officer; Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy; and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
For more information about the competition, visit https://cyberforcecompetition.com/. Follow ORNL Cyber Analytics on Twitter @ORNLCyber for updates. ~ NSSD science writer Matt Lakin
