Florida and INL Team Up Against Cyber Threats to Water Systems

Summary

• Partnership: Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the state of Florida are working together to protect Florida’s water infrastructure from cyber threats.
• Center of Excellence: The effort will create a Center of Excellence meant to be a model for all 50 states.
• Locks and Levees Platform: The main project is a training and simulation platform for the control systems behind flood control and water distribution.
• Key Figures: INL’s Zach Tudor and Florida Department of Management Services Secretary Pedro Allende; the University of Florida’s Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research is supporting the work.
• Scalable Model: The goal is a program that other states can copy, adapt to their own water systems and run without starting from scratch.

A Center of Excellence for Florida’s Water

Idaho National Laboratory and the state of Florida are collaborating on a cybersecurity initiative to protect Florida’s water infrastructure. It was announced in March. It will create a Center of Excellence that both sides hope can be scaled to all 50 states.

Understanding the Initiative

Automation cuts both ways. The centerpiece of the partnership is a Locks and Levees Platform, a training and simulation environment designed to strengthen defenses for the state’s critical water management systems.

The Locks and Levees Platform

It’s a practice range where trainees learn to defend the industrial control systems behind flood control and water distribution. INL already builds platforms that simulate cyberattacks on water systems, electric grids and chemical plants, and it will apply that experience to Florida’s needs. The Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research at the University of Florida will add training and research support.

Who Is Leading the Work

“Idaho National Laboratory’s longstanding expertise in cybersecurity and operational technology is key to this initiative,” said Zach Tudor, associate laboratory director for INL’s National and Homeland Security directorate.

For Florida, the effort is led by the Department of Management Services. Secretary Pedro Allende, a former U.S. Department of Homeland Security official, said: “This collaboration between the state of Florida and the Idaho National Laboratory is a major step toward securing our critical infrastructure. The Center of Excellence will set a new standard for cybersecurity in water management systems and serve as a model for other states.”

A Model for Other States

Florida is not alone. Water utilities across the country run aging control systems with small security teams, and attackers have noticed. A tested training platform and a working center could give other states a template rather than a blank page.

What Comes Next

The collaboration was first announced in October 2024 at the Small Business Cybersecurity Summit at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Now comes the hard part. INL and its Florida partners have to build the platform, recruit the first trainees and prove that a simulation lab in one state can actually make the people running flood gates and water plants better at stopping an attack.

Fred Templeton, CISA, CASP, SEC+

Fred Templeton is a practicing Information Systems Auditor in the Washington DC area. Fred works as a government contractor and uses his skills in cyber security to make our country's information systems safer from cyber threats. Fred holds a master's degree in cybersecurity and is currently working on his PHD in Information Systems.