AdCyDER Attack Simulator
SF-25-117 A framework for simulating various cyber attacks on industrial control systems and SCADA environments.
Blakely, Benjamin↗
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Cyote-attack Chain Estimator
Attack Chain Estimator (ACE) Application Overview The Attack Chain Estimator (ACE) Application is a sophisticated tool designed for the ingestion, classification, sequencing, and enrichment of cybersecurity threat reports. This application leverages advanced machine learning models and extensive historical data to provide comprehensive insights into cyber threats, specifically targeting Industrial Control Systems (ICS). Purpose The primary functions of the ACE Application include: Ingestion of Cybersecurity Threat Reporting: Capable of ingesting text-based threat reports in markdown or text file format. Supports ingestion of structured data from other sources in STIX/JSON format. Classification of Report’s Text-Based Events: Utilizes a DeBERTa classifier, specifically trained on cybersecurity data, to map the events to MITRE ATT&CK for ICS Tactics and Techniques. Classification is performed using multiple Jupyter notebooks and machine learning workflows hosted as FastAPI microservices: regex_data deberta_base_35_train_hft_classifier_mlflow.ipynb hft_regex_classifier_mlflow.ipynb param_train_hft_classifier_mlflow.ipynb regex_tactic_tech.ipynb Ordering of Tactics, Techniques, and Observable Events: Sequences the identified tactics, techniques, and events to form a coherent attack chain. Enrichment with Historical Attack Chain Details: Enhances the attack chain with details from historical attacks using a Markov model developed from CyOTE Precursor Analysis Report data. The Markov model is available as a FastAPI endpoint for seamless integration. Enrichment with Adversary Emulation Capabilities Data: Integrates adversary emulation capabilities data using MITRE Caldera for OT adversary abilities UUIDs. Export of Output Files: Provides options to export the enriched attack chain in JSON or CSV formats. Routing of Output to Other Applications: Facilitates routing of output to various platforms and applications, including: Threat Intelligence Platforms COREII Scout for Threat Intelligence Analysis COREII Modeling and Simulation for Adversary Emulation Technical Description The ACE Application is an advanced cybersecurity tool designed to provide detailed threat analysis and sequence generation. It is built on a robust architecture that integrates natural language processing, machine learning, and historical data modeling. Key Components: Data Ingestion Module: Handles the input of threat reports and data from various formats, ensuring flexibility in data sources. Classification Engine: Employs DeBERTa-based classifiers hosted as FastAPI microservices to analyze and classify threat report events in accordance with the MITRE ATT&CK framework for ICS. Sequence Generator: Orders the classified events into a logical attack chain, providing clear insight into the sequence of tactics and techniques used in the threat. Enrichment Engine: Integrates historical data and adversary emulation capabilities to enhance the attack chain with valuable context and additional details. The historical data enrichment is powered by a Markov model, which is available as a FastAPI endpoint. Export and Routing Module: Facilitates the export of the enriched attack chain in multiple formats and routes the output to designated applications for further analysis or emulation.
Paul, Tony [Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho↗
5G integrated edge computing platform for efficient component monitoring in coal-fired power plants
This project developed a cutting-edge 5G-integrated edge computing framework to enhance operational efficiency and reliability in coal-fired power plants through real-time component monitoring and anomaly detection. The initiative focused on leveraging distributed machine learning, federated learning, and 5G-based dynamic network slicing to support scalable, fault-tolerant monitoring environments to meet the operational requirements in industrial control systems. With a Distributed Edge Computing Service (DECS) orchestration, this project enabled federated learning at edge for condition monitoring and introduced adaptive client selection strategies to minimize communication overhead. Scalable distributed training was achieved using the Horovod framework, thus enhancing performance across edge nodes. In the realm of 5G networking, the project designed and deployed reconfigurable, QoS-aware network slicing tailored for operational technology (OT) environments, integrating software-defined networks to bolster cyber-resilience and enabling dynamic slicing for federated learning workloads. A significant milestone was the development of a virtualized ICS environment with 5G core integration—which allowed elastic and fault tolerant distributed training on real-world datasets such as NASA Bearings, Hydraulic Systems, and TEP. To broaden the impact of the project, a TRL-3 virtualized ICS testbed for research and education was designed. This project engaged several graduate and undergraduate students to conduct research on the cutting-edge technology, and it resulted in one PhD dissertation, one MS thesis, and over 14 peer-reviewed publications. With the support of this project students also participated in national cybersecurity competitions to improve their professional development skills.
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
Deny-by-Default Network Port Security: SPaRC Technical Bulletin #002
Operational Technology (OT) networks [e.g., industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems] have unique cyber security challenges due to their decades long service life, high availability requirements, and limited visibility. OT networks often take credit for being “air gapped” (i.e. disconnected from the Internet) and all devices within the OT network can “talk” to each other—even if they should not. This SPaRC Technical Bulletin describes how the unique limitations of OT networks can become strengths when it comes to cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity↗
Development of a State Machine Sequencer for the Keck Interferometer: Evolution, Development and Lessons Learned using a CASE Tool Approach
This paper presents a discussion of the evolution of a sequencer from a simple EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) based sequencer into a complex implementation designed utilizing UML (Unified Modeling Language) methodologies and a CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) tool approach. The main purpose of the sequencer (called the IF Sequencer) is to provide overall control of the Keck Interferometer to enable science operations be carried out by a single operator (and/or observer). The interferometer links the two 10m telescopes of the W. M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The IF Sequencer is a high-level, multi-threaded, Hare1 finite state machine, software program designed to orchestrate several lower-level hardware and software hard real time subsystems that must perform their work in a specific and sequential order. The sequencing need not be done in hard real-time. Each state machine thread commands either a high-speed real-time multiple mode embedded controller via CORB A, or slower controllers via EPICS Channel Access interfaces. The overall operation of the system is simplified by the automation. The UML is discussed and our use of it to implement the sequencer is presented. The decision to use the Rhapsody product as our CASE tool is explained and reflected upon. Most importantly, a section on lessons learned is presented and the difficulty of integrating CASE tool automatically generated C++ code into a large control system consisting of multiple infrastructures is presented.
interferometer↗
Addressing Software Security
Historically security within organizations was thought of as an IT function (web sites/servers, email, workstation patching, etc.) Threat landscape has evolved (Script Kiddies, Hackers, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), Nation States, etc.) Attack surface has expanded -Networks interconnected!! Some security posture factors Network Layer (Routers, Firewalls, etc.) Computer Network Defense (IPS/IDS, Sensors, Continuous Monitoring, etc.) Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Software Security (COTS, FOSS, Custom, etc.)
software↗
Mixed Reality Training and Workspace Integration
Mixed reality technology is being used across Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to enhance training and workforce development. Projects involving mixed reality such as lockout/tagout , the Industrial Control System Laboratory , and a Department of Defense microreactor demonstration have benefited from these innovative approaches. Several key concerns exist with integrating this new technology, including ease of use, ease of setup, and maintenance through the lifecycle. These aspects need to be properly addressed to ensure that this technology remains attractive and useful to operations teams as well as engineers and researchers at INL. Primarily, this requires buy-in from information technology management, designing software/hardware-agnostic tools, and reducing friction with technology integration. To be successful, regular operational use of this new and unfamiliar technology will require straightforward user interfaces, simple setup processes, and feature-rich experiences that reduce the time needed to benefit from the technology. INL is improving its toolset to allow for a streamlined deployment and use of mixed reality technologies that are directly available to researchers and engineers.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
Energy Infrastructure Threat Brief: Russia and Iran State Sponsored APTs
This briefing provides a high-level overview of recent cyber threats to the energy sector, focusing on Russia’s coordinated 2025 attack on Poland’s energy infrastructure and ongoing Iranian targeting of industrial control systems (ICS).
14 - SOLAR ENERGY↗
Stereo optical guidance system for control of industrial robots
A device for the generation of basic electrical signals which are supplied to a computerized processing complex for the operation of industrial robots. The system includes a stereo mirror arrangement for the projection of views from opposite sides of a visible indicia formed on a workpiece. The views are projected onto independent halves of the retina of a single camera. The camera retina is of the CCD (charge-coupled-device) type and is therefore capable of providing signals in response to the image projected thereupon. These signals are then processed for control of industrial robots or similar devices.
Powell, Bradley W.↗
Adopting Industry Standards for Control Systems Within Advanced Life Support
This paper gives a description of OPC (Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control) standards for process control and outlines the experiences at JSC with using these standards to interface with I/O hardware from three independent vendors. The I/O hardware was integrated with a commercially available SCADA/HMI software package to make up the control and monitoring system for the Environmental Systems Test Stand (ESTS). OPC standards were utilized for communicating with I/O hardware and the software was used for implementing monitoring, PC-based distributed control, and redundant data storage over an Ethernet physical layer using an embedded din-rail mounted PC.
Young, James Scott↗
Refractory Materials for Flame Deflector Protection System Corrosion Control: Similar Industries and/or Launch Facilities Survey
A trade study and litera ture survey of refractory materials (fi rebrick. refractory concrete. and si licone and epoxy ablatives) were conducted to identify candidate replacement materials for Launch Complexes 39A and 398 at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In addition, site vis its and in terviews with industry expens and vendors of refractory materials were conducted. As a result of the si te visits and interviews, several products were identified for launch applications. Firebrick is costly to procure and install and was not used in the si tes studied. Refractory concrete is gunnable. adheres well. and costs less 10 install. Martyte. a ceramic fi lled epoxy. can protect structural stccl but is costly. difficullto apply. and incompatible with silicone ablatives. Havanex, a phenolic ablative material, is easy to apply but is costly and requires frequent replacement. Silicone ablatives are ineJ[pensive, easy to apply. and perl'onn well outside of direct rocket impingement areas. but refractory concrete and epoxy ablatives provide better protection against direcl rocket exhaust. None of the prodUCIS in this trade study can be considered a panacea for these KSC launch complexes. but the refractory products. individually or in combination, may be considered for use provided the appropriate testing requirements and specifications are met.
Calle, Luz Marina↗
From natural language to control signals: a conceptual framework for semantic channel finding in complex experimental infrastructure
Modern experimental platforms such as particle accelerators, fusion devices, telescopes, and industrial process control systems expose tens to hundreds of thousands of control and diagnostic channels, accumulated over decades of hardware evolution. Operators and AI systems alike depend on informal expert knowledge, inconsistent naming conventions, and scattered documentation to locate the signals required for monitoring, troubleshooting, and automated control, creating a persistent bottleneck for reliability, scalability, and emerging language-model-driven interfaces. We formalize semantic channel finding, the task of mapping natural-language intent to concrete control-system signals, as a general problem in complex experimental infrastructure, and introduce a four-paradigm conceptual framework to guide architecture selection based on facility-specific data regimes. The paradigms span (i) direct in-context lookup over small, curated channel dictionaries, (ii) constrained hierarchical navigation through structured trees, (iii) interactive agent exploration using iterative reasoning and tool-based database queries, and (iv) ontology-grounded semantic search that decouples channel meaning from facility-specific naming conventions. We demonstrate the practical feasibility of each paradigm through proof-of-concept implementations at four operational facilities spanning two orders of magnitude in scale: from compact free-electron lasers to large synchrotron light sources, operating under diverse control-system architectures ranging from clean hierarchical naming schemes to legacy environments with decades of heterogeneous conventions. Where evaluated against expert-curated operational queries, these instantiations achieve 90%–97% accuracy, validating the framework’s applicability across real-world deployment scenarios. To accelerate adoption across the broader scientific and industrial control-system community, we release open-source, plug-and-play implementations of all three interactive paradigms-direct lookup, hierarchical navigation, and middle-layer exploration-within the Osprey framework, together with tools for channel database generation, interactive testing, and minimal-configuration deployment. This work establishes semantic channel finding as a foundational capability for human-centric and agentic AI interfaces at large-scale facilities, providing both a systematic framework for architecture design and practical resources to enable adoption without building custom infrastructure from scratch.
channel finding↗
Bridging the Gap Between Modern UX Design and Particle Accelerator Control Room Interfaces
Accelerator control systems often represent relatively complex and safety-sensitive human-machine interfaces within process control industries. These systems are technically robust and reflect the cumulative integration of solutions built and adapted across decades. One of the regular, unfortunate casualties of provisional accelerator control system updates is their human-system interfaces (HSIs) which often lag behind modern usability and design standards. An additional challenge is that although there is a multitude of established human factors (HF), and user experience (UX) principles for everyday digital applications, there are very few (if any) established principles for complex and safety-critical applications for an accelerator. This paper argues for the importance of established HF and UX principles (herein referred to as human-centered design principles) into the development of accelerator HSIs, emphasizing the need for clarity, consistency, responsiveness, and cognitive accessibility. Drawing from HF/UX best practices and human-centered design, this paper discusses how these approaches can enhance operator performance, reduce human error, and improve accelerator personnel collaboration. Case studies from Accelerator Control Operations Research Network (ACORN) at Fermilab are explored to demonstrate how interfaces built with human-centered design principles can scale with system complexity while remaining intuitive and efficient for diverse user roles including operators, machine experts, and engineers. By bridging the gap between traditional control system design and modern human-centered design methods, this paper provides a roadmap for evolving accelerator HSIs into more usable, maintainable, and effective tools.
Hill, Rachael [Idaho Natl. Lab.]↗
Fiber optic TV direct
The objective of the operational television (OTV) technology was to develop a multiple camera system (up to 256 cameras) for NASA Kennedy installations where camera video, synchronization, control, and status data are transmitted bidirectionally via a single fiber cable at distances in excess of five miles. It is shown that the benefits (such as improved video performance, immunity from electromagnetic interference and radio frequency interference, elimination of repeater stations, and more system configuration flexibility) can be realized if application of the proven fiber optic transmission concept is used. The control system will marry the lens, pan and tilt, and camera control functions into a modular based Local Area Network (LAN) control network. Such a system does not exist commercially at present since the Television Broadcast Industry's current practice is to divorce the positional controls from the camera control system. The application software developed for this system will have direct applicability to similar systems in industry using LAN based control systems.
Kassak, John E.↗
Cognitive engineering models: A prerequisite to the design of human-computer interaction in complex dynamic systems
This chapter examines a class of human-computer interaction applications, specifically the design of human-computer interaction for the operators of complex systems. Such systems include space systems (e.g., manned systems such as the Shuttle or space station, and unmanned systems such as NASA scientific satellites), aviation systems (e.g., the flight deck of 'glass cockpit' airplanes or air traffic control) and industrial systems (e.g., power plants, telephone networks, and sophisticated, e.g., 'lights out,' manufacturing facilities). The main body of human-computer interaction (HCI) research complements but does not directly address the primary issues involved in human-computer interaction design for operators of complex systems. Interfaces to complex systems are somewhat special. The 'user' in such systems - i.e., the human operator responsible for safe and effective system operation - is highly skilled, someone who in human-machine systems engineering is sometimes characterized as 'well trained, well motivated'. The 'job' or task context is paramount and, thus, human-computer interaction is subordinate to human job interaction. The design of human interaction with complex systems, i.e., the design of human job interaction, is sometimes called cognitive engineering.
Mitchell, Christine M.↗
Control system for an artificial heart
Inexpensive industrial pneumatic components are combined to produce control system to drive sac-type heart-assistance blood pump with controlled pulsatile pressure that makes pump rate of flow sensitive to venous /atrial/ pressure, while stroke is centered about set operating point and pump is synchronized with natural heart.
Gebben, V. D.↗
Cyber Labeling for Energy Industrial IoT
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER), at the request of the Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies, Anne Neuberger, initiated research in 2023 to develop a cybersecurity labeling proof-of-concept for energy products to expand on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) proposed U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program. DOE mobilized researchers from six National Laboratories to develop and gather feedback on a proof-of concept label for solar inverters and smart meters, which serve as representative products for market-facing energy sector Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). This report details the research team’s process across two phases and the resulting findings, which include challenges facing cyber labeling programs and recommendations to implement an expanded IIoT cyber labeling program in the U.S.
32 - ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZA↗
Finite-state compensators for continuous processes
Mathematical representation of feedback systems composed of both continuous and finite-state processes is discussed. Such a representation provides a new viewpoint for the design of computer control systems for industrial processes, and clarifies areas in which further research is required. Some motivating examples are provided.
Johnson, T. L.↗