The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded BAE Systems an $8.6 million contract to develop technology to quickly restore power to the U.S. electric grid after a cyber attack causing a catastrophic failure, the company said March 14.
This technology will be part of the DARPA Rapid Attack Detection, Isolation, and Characterization Systems (RADICS) program. The technology will quickly isolate both enterprise information technology (IT) and power infrastructure networks from all routes of malicious attack, Britain’s BAE said.
The contract work will also establish Secure Emergency Networks (SEN) among trusted organizations, allowing necessary coordination to restore power to the country’s complex power grid. The SEN is being established using advances in broadcast, satellite, and wireless technologies originally developed for communications in contested environments.
BAE said its technology, once activated, detects and disconnects unauthorized internal and external users from local networks in minutes and also creates a robust, hybrid network of data links secured by several layers of encryption and user authentication. It relies on advances in network traffic control and analysis that will enable utilities to establish and maintain emergency communications.
“Getting the power back on quickly after a cyber attack is critical to national defense. Given the scale and complexity of the U.S. power grid, and the chaos following a coordinated, large-scale attack, this is no easy task. Our work with DARPA is intended to stop ongoing attacks and minimize downtime,” Victor Firoiu, senior principal engineer and manager of communications and networking at BAE Systems, said in a statement.
BAE’s RADICS technology will be designed to operate without prior coordination with affected organizations and regardless of power availability, internet connectivity, disparate IT networks and grid infrastructure technology, situational awareness, and ongoing disruption efforts by adversaries.
The BAE RADICS project work will be performed in Burlington, Mass.; Merrimack, N.H.; and Arlington, Va.