Enemies of the United States can attack the country without so much as leaving their homes.

Cyberattacks on the power grid are a rising threat around the world, and without proper countermeasures, the attacks can lead to even greater problems. However, a pair of ISU professors are working to prevent this sort of disaster from happening.

Richard Mansbach, professor of political science, shared his predictions in the event that the United States’ power grid is attacked.

“It would be like Pearl Harbor,” Mansbach said. “It would trigger a large-scale war that may escalate to nuclear war.”

The power grid is composed of interconnected systems of transmission lines, regulators, substations and transformers. Several transmission grids within the power grid get electricity to consumers. If one of these transmission grids were to be compromised, the consequences would be great and affect countless people.

Doug Jacobson, university professor of electrical and computer engineering, said a cyberattack would have a high impact on the grid.

“A large-scale cyberattack gets out everybody who lives in the area that the power grid is in,” Jacobson said. “You don’t get a small group of people, you get everybody.” 

The towering power pylons to the smaller power lines along U.S. roads are all a part of the grid. When one thinks about damaging the power grid, he or she may think of only physical damage such as cutting a power line or destroying a generator. Thanks to hackers, however, threats to the power grid come straight from the Internet.

One may wonder how the physical grid could be damaged by hackers. The answer is in the fact that the power grid is actually a cyber-physical system.

“Cyber-physical means the physical world is controlled by computers,” Jacobson said.

Hackers aim for the computer systems that control the physical power grid. By attacking sensors, they are able to cause damage to the grid, whether overloading a generator or shutting down power.

The results of their attacks take on many forms.

Manimaran Govindarasu, professor of electric and computer engineering, said there are many forms of consequences paid by countries victim to attacks on the power grid.

“The consequences of cyberattacks are multiple, blackouts, physical damage, instability, economic loss of production,” Govindarasu said.

Cyberattacks are a growing problem and steps need to be taken to work on the power grid’s defenses. Govindarasu and Jacobson are currently working with a team of professors on a project called “PowerCyber.” The name represents the power grid aspect and the cyber aspect of the project.

The goal of PowerCyber is to provide an atmosphere where students and professionals can simulate different cyberattacks and defenses.

“It is a playground for researchers to experiment with their techniques and concepts,” Govindarasu said.

PowerCyber is meant to educate students and help researchers develop new methods of cyber defense. With the information gathered from experimentation with the simulation device, strategies can be created to help detect cyberattacks and prevent them all together.

“There are various approaches to cyberattacks, and how to deal with them,” Govindarasu said.

PowerCyber was created to help researchers find these different approaches. With time, the testing system will help in the development of new strategies for stopping cyberattacks. By educating students in cyber defenses, Govindarasu and his colleagues hope to improve the future of cyber security.

“We use [PowerCyber] for education, senior design projects and industrial training. … It helps them prepare for cyberattacks and strengthen their own infrastructure,” Govindarasu said.