Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed a new set of software tools to evaluate cybersecurity risk capabilities and flag potential risks at federal buildings and commercial facilities, free of charge.  Called the “Training Game,” the game helps familiarize users with key cybersecurity issues, using real-world scenarios. A report card is generated at the end of the game to show the results of the choices made.

The PNNL development team evaluated real-world operational technology attacks to create the game software.

Beyond gaming for cybersecurity, researchers at PNNL’s Center for Advanced Technology Evaluation (CENATE) developed a system to ferret out questionable uses of super computers within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). As computing power increases, cyber-attacks with malicious software are proliferating. To combat this threat, CENATE researchers developed a nonintrusive profiling framework that analyzes a computer’s legitimate workload while allowing system administrators in identify and remove unauthorized workloads and intruders.