The Cybersecurity Center for Offshore Wind Energy at Old Dominion University is developing an integrated research, testing, and training environment for evaluating cybersecurity across wind-energy operational technology. The Center connects scaled wind-turbine prototypes, microcontroller-based controls, PLC/RTU components, and SCADA monitoring so researchers can reproduce operational conditions, generate datasets, simulate cyberattacks, and evaluate detection and defense mechanisms in a controlled setting.
The Center’s work spans testbed engineering, cyberattack implementation, electromagnetic compatibility and interference testing, cyber-resilience assessment, AI-assisted threat detection, privacy-preserving analytics, digital-twin research, training, and stakeholder engagement. The goal is to improve the resilience, continuity, diagnostics, and secure control of future offshore wind systems.
Mission
To strengthen offshore wind cybersecurity by creating realistic cyber-physical test environments, advancing detection and defense technologies, and translating research into practical tools, training, and validation resources for the energy sector.
Outcomes
- A complete end-to-end simulation environment spanning turbine sensor-data acquisition through SCADA-system integration.
- Scaled-down wind-turbine prototypes equipped with sensors and pitch-control mechanisms.
- Microcontroller-based turbine models using platforms such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi for flexible experimentation.
- WindCRAFT, a tool for automated cyber-resilience assessment and attack-surface analysis.
- CyberWind Assistant, an AI-powered chatbot supporting training, diagnostics, and stakeholder engagement.
Primary Research Objectives
- Develop a secure SCADA-based testbed for offshore wind systems.
- Integrate turbine, PLC/RTU, and SCADA components for monitoring and control.
- Generate representative SCADA datasets for cyberattack simulation and AI-based detection.
- Implement, document, and validate eavesdropping and other cyberattack scenarios.
- Design and evaluate defense mechanisms for IT/OT attack vectors.
- Use controlled experimentation to support benchmarking, training, diagnostics, and technology transition.