Penn State’s Center for Security Research and Education, Center for Energy Law and Policy, and the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Science are jointly hosting a Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Workshop from March 29 to April 1, 2022. This virtual workshop will include a series of panels and presentations on information security, cyber threats, energy infrastructure, global risks to supply chains and more.

Registration is required. In the registration form, you will select which panels you plan to attend. Upon registration, Zoom instructions for each panel you select will be sent to you in a confirmation email.

 

 

Panel Sessions

Information Security in the Power Grid
Tuesday, March 29  |  11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (ET)

This session will include presentations and a roundtable discussion on the timely topic of cybersecurity of wide-area measurement systems (WAMS), including phasor measurement unit (PMU) data anomaly detection and correction, and its impact on different applications. A deep dive on the state-of-the-art in the areas of WAMS cyber defense and potential vulnerabilities to be addressed will be conducted.

Panelists:

Chair – Seth Blumsack, professor of energy policy and economics and international affairs; director, Center for Energy Law and Policy, Penn State
Niligan Chaudhuri, associate professor of electrical engineering, Penn State
Jeff Dagle, Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Ryan Quint, senior manager of advanced systems analytics and modeling, North American Electric Reliability Corporation
Colin Gordon, senior research engineer, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

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The Cyber Threat to America’s Infrastructure
Tuesday, March 29  |  1:30 – 3:00 p.m. (ET)

Critical Infrastructure is essential for maintaining the functions of a modern society from healthcare, to security, to the economy.   A cyber-attack on critical infrastructure has the potential to cripple a nation.  Using our collective background and real-world experiences, we will lead a discussion on the cyber threats to critical infrastructure and the importance of pro-actively and holistically addressing them.

Presenters:

Michael Hohnka, head, Embedded Forensics and Reverse Engineering Department, Penn State Applied Research Laboratory
Will Parker, head, Offensive Security Department, Penn State Applied Research Laboratory

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Regulating and Managing Energy Infrastructure Interdependencies
Wednesday, March 30  |  11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (ET)

A highly fragmented business and regulatory environment across decision-makers and across infrastructure systems has impeded the ability of individual energy infrastructure operators to monitor or reduce vulnerabilities that stem from high levels of interdependence. It has also created a regulatory system without clear oversight of the decisions made by those infrastructure operators. This session will focus on the roles and needs of the regulatory process in addressing vulnerabilities across infrastructures.

Panelists:

Chair – Chiara Lo Prete, associate professor of energy economics, Penn State
Alison Silverstein, consultant; former FERC regulator; former Texas Public Utility Commission regulator
Gladys Brown Dutrieuille, chairman, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
Kirsten Verclas, managing director, NASEO’s electricity program
Jonathon Monken, principal at Converge Strategies; lead author of the Black Sky Playbook for NARUC’s Black Sky Subcommittee
Lillian Mateo Santos, commissioner, Puerto Rico Energy Bureau
Chris Pilong, senior director of operations planning, PJM

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Developing Research Requirements to Secure America’s Critical Infrastructure
Wednesday, March 30  |  1:30 – 3:00 p.m. (ET)

Currently, there are no established processes to develop and conduct research to support critical infrastructure in the United States. Research efforts conducted by industry, academia, and governments are done on an individual and ad hoc basis. In this session, the panelists will discuss how stakeholders can better establish a) prioritized requirements for research to support risk reduction in critical infrastructure sectors and b) process to conduct interdisciplinary research to support the Homeland Security Enterprise.

Panelists:

Moderator – Nicholas Eftimiades, assistant teaching professor, iMPS Homeland Security Program, Penn State Harrisburg School of Public Affairs
Brian Harrell, former assistant secretary, DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Robert Rohrer, assistant director for ODNI/Enterprise Threat Mitigation, NCSC; director, National Insider Threat Task Force
Ewa Clark, NCSC national counterintelligence officer for critical infrastructure
Michael Russel, president, Central Pennsylvania Infragard
Kristin Daniels, director, Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Homeland Security
John Yost, infrastructure protection specialist, Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Homeland Security
Ashley Bleacher, intelligence analyst II, PaCIC CIKR Unit
Congressman Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania’s 15th District
Michael A. Rovnan, NSA Civilian Cybersecurity Directorate

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Securing America’s Critical Supply Chains against Global Risks
Thursday, March 31  |  1:30 – 3:00 p.m. (ET)

This session will showcase four presentations follow by an open discussion. The four presentations will cover topics related to advanced manufacturing, fashion supply chain sustainability, food supply chain resilience, and supply chain networks and complexity. The open discussion will focus on innovative solutions for critical supply chains and on-going supply chain disruptions.

Presenters:

Alfonso Mejia, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, Penn State;
Presentation: “Resilience of urban supply chain networks”
Soundar Kumara, Allen E. Pearce and Allen M. Pearce Professor of Industrial Engineering, Penn State;
Presentation: “Revitalizing small and medium manufactures to make U.S. supply chains resilient and self-sufficient”
Aydin Alptekinoglu, professor of supply chain management; Robert G. Schwartz University Endowed Fellow in Business Administration; director of research, Center for Supply Chain Research, Penn State;
Presentation: “Fashion supply chains are choking the planet”
Michael Gomez, postdoctoral researcher, department of civil and environmental engineering, Penn State;
Presentation: “Diverse food supply chains are more resistant to supply shocks: An empirical analysis for U.S. cities”

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Next Steps
Friday, April 1  |  11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (ET)

The protection of critical infrastructure has become ubiquitous in the national security discourse, and Penn State and our partners have substantial research, education, and service capabilities across the critical infrastructure sectors. Can/how can we better work together i.e. University-wide, interdisciplinary efforts, in partnership with industry and government, to improve the security of critical infrastructure? What topic areas should we prioritize? What opportunities should we pursue?

This event is planned as an open discussion among all participants.

Moderator: John Hodgson, associate director, Center for Security Research and Education, Penn State

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