RICHMOND, Va. -- We live in an interconnected world, where instantaneous information sharing makes our daily lives easier. The dark side of that connection means those with bad intentions can do real damage fast.
This week, Dominion Energy and partner agencies from the Defense Department, intelligence community, and federal and state law enforcement have gathered for the company's third 'Cyber Fortress,' designed to simulate real-world cyberattacks against the power grid.
"Our focus is on nation-state actors and sophisticated criminal malign actors that have the very latest technology to use in a very bad way to cause harm," said Adam Lee, Dominion Energy's Chief Security Officer. "Everyone has a role in the event of a significant attack on the grid.”
Cybersecurity experts from private and public agencies are split into teams during the exercises. The "red team" focuses on launching attacks on a simulated power grid, and the "blue team" is tasked with identifying, halting, and reversing any effects.
“The attacks our red team are launching replicate the exact tradecraft hostile nation states and malign actors across the globe are using against critical infrastructure," Lee said.
A significant attack on the power grid has the potential to upend daily life for energy customers and critical national assets, which stresses the importance of the cross-agency, private-public partnerships on display during Cyber Fortress, officials said. Energy regulators report a continued uptick in foreign adversaries of the United States seeking ways of attacking key energy infrastructure, according to Reuters.
"Dominion’s territory, particularly here in Virginia, is a no-fail territory," Lee said. "It’s absolutely essential that Dominion is not just as hard a target as we can make it, that our security practices are constantly evolving, but that we are partnered with stakeholders in that fight to keep bad actors out of networks in the United States.”
Col. Jamel Neville is the commanding officer of the Marine Corp's Cyberspace Warfare Group based at Ft. Meade. This work, he said, allows their team to be more agile when responding to threats.
“They say cyber[security] is a team sport, but sometimes you can be on the same team and people have different rules," Col. Neville said. “The scope, scale, and sophistication of our adversaries has increased and advanced.”
Col. Neville is based in Maryland, but he grew up in Richmond, so returning for the Cyber Fortress work only further stressed the human impact of the work.
“We want to protect the aunt at home on the couch, my mom and dad, from those threats that want to disrupt our way of life," Col. Neville said.
Virginia's Public Safety and Homeland Security Secretary Terry Cole attended Wednesday's session to highlight the value of inter-governmental and public-private collaboration in combating threats. Cole said the timing of Cyber Fortress serves as a reminder for regular Virginians, since Cybersecurity Awareness Month launches next week.
"It’s critically important, especially with today’s threat picture we see in Virginia," Cole said of the exercise.
"Maybe do a little reading about what cybersecurity means and cyber-hygiene means and invest a little money to protect yourself as well," Cole said. "Be rest assured, the Commonwealth employees, the employees of the U.S. military, and our partners Dominion are doing everything all we can to protect not only our customers but the critical infrastructure we’re blessed to have in the Commonwealth.”
You can learn more about Cybersecurity Awareness Month with resources from the U.S. Department of Defense and Virginia IT Agency.
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