The Critical Infrastructure Initiative builds the cyber-resilience of critical infrastructure through methodologically diverse outputs-oriented research and engagement with end users and homeland security practitioners. The initiative was launched in 2016 in the recognition of the need to address growing threat that cyber-incidents pose to the functioning of the basic infrastructure that societies depend upon. For this initiative, Stanford has partnered with 11 other organizations to found the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI), an institute focused on research and education designed to enhance the resiliency of the nation’s critical infrastructures. CIRI is led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and funded by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Critical Infrastructure Initiative involves two projects designed to foster critical-infrastructure cyber resilience:
1. Critical Infrastructure and Supply Chain Assurance
Protection of critical infrastructure is rapidly growing as one of the most important areas of cybersecurity. The primary goal of this project is to design and develop critical infrastructure cybersecurity assessment methodologies and associated modeling and simulation environments.
Researchers: Jason Jaskolka, John Villasenor
Contact: Jason Jaskolka, jaskolka@stanford.edu
2. Regulation and Power Grid Resilience
The electric power sector is perhaps the most critical of all critical infrastructure sectors. Without electricity, clean water cannot be pumped, hospitals do not operate, financial institutions shut down, and transportation systems freeze. Unfortunately the reliability of the power grid is threatened by a variety of hazards, including those related to cyber-incidents. The United States and other countries have developed standards to ensure that the power grid is resilient to such cyber incidents, however their effectiveness is a matter of considerable dispute. This study involves dialogue with all stakeholders involved in regulation — including technical experts, compliance officers, and regulators themselves — to understand the impacts of standards on the resilience of the power grid and develop recommendations for their improvement.
Researchers: Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Rebecca Slayton
Contact: Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, aaroncg@stanford.edu
More information on Reforming CIP regulations to build cyber-resilience