UTSA works to improve cybersecurity across manufacturing

Manufacturing cybersecurity public private partnership

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) launched the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII), a $111 million public-private partnership. Led by UTSA, the university will enter into a five-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to lead a consortium of 59 proposed member institutions in introducing a cybersecure energy-ROI that drives American manufacturers and supply chains to further adopt secure, energy-efficient approaches, ultimately securing and sustaining the nation's leadership in global manufacturing competitiveness.

This $111 million public-private partnership aims to help U.S. manufacturers, who are one of the top targets for cyber criminals and nation-state adversaries, impacting the production of energy technologies such as electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines. Integration across the supply chain network and an increased use of automation applied in manufacturing processes can make industrial infrastructures vulnerable to cyberattacks. To protect American manufacturing jobs and workers, CyManII aims transform U.S. advanced manufacturing and make manufacturers more energy efficient, resilient and globally competitive against our nation's adversaries.

As part of its national strategy, CyManII will focus on three high priority areas where collaborative research and development can help U.S. manufacturers: securing automation, securing the supply chain network, and building a national program for education and workforce development. The group's research objectives will focus on understanding the evolving cybersecurity threats to greater energy efficiency in manufacturing industries, developing new cybersecurity technologies and methods, and sharing information and knowledge with the broader community of U.S. manufacturers.

CyManII plans to design and build a secure manufacturing architecture that is pervasive, unobtrusive and enables energy efficiency.

These efforts will result in a suite of methods, standards and tools rooted in the concept that everything in the manufacturing supply chain has a unique authentic identity. These solutions will address the comprehensive landscape of complex vulnerabilities and be economically implemented in a wide array of machines and environments.

CyManII has 59 proposed members including three Department of Energy National Laboratories (Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories), four Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, 24 powerhouse universities, 18 industry leaders, and 10 nonprofits.

This national network of members will drive impact across the nation and solve the biggest challenges facing cybersecurity in the U.S manufacturing industry.

CyManII is funded by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) and co-managed with the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER).

"I am excited for Texas Tech to be a part of this important institute landmark," said Rattikorn Hewett, Whitacre Chair and professor in Texas Tech University's Department of Computer Science, within the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering. "We will holistically address the issues of cybersecurity, energy and manufacturing systems using expertise in multidisciplinary fields to combat the challenges both in theory and practices. Dean Al Sacco has been instrumental in bringing all three engineering departments together. Without his vision and determination, this project would not have existed. I look forward to working with my colleagues across the fields within and outside Texas Tech."

In today's rapidly evolving security landscape, organizations face an ever-growing array of disruptive events, security threats and risks. Traditional reactive approaches to security intelligence often leave businesses vulnerable and ill-prepared to anticipate and mitigate emerging threats that could impact the safety of their people, facilities or operations.

ON DEMAND: Apple Mac computer use is growing in the corporate space. Having the solutions and the knowledge base to respond to events that include Mac computers is just as important as their Windows counterparts.