2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Title: CyberSecurity for Advanced Manufacturing Organizations

Advanced manufacturing organizations have historically suffered from poor cyber-security defenses. Some of the reason for this is a lack of security awareness among the engineering technicians responsible for day-to-day maintenance and operations. In addition, information technology personnel who have security knowledge are not aware of the unique challenges posed by advanced manufacturing technology.

We believe that providing free, accessible, training material presented using technology typically found in advanced manufacturing will increase cyber-security awareness among both groups. To prove this, we have created virtual training scenarios designed to increase general security knowledge among engineering technicians. These training scenarios can also be used to increase awareness of advanced manufacturing technology in information technology workers. To accompany our scenarios, we have created a virtual industrial control environment. This virtual industrial control system can be used without safety concerns or expensive specialized industrial hardware. This virtual industrial control environment can be used remotely, anywhere and at any time. The virtual scenarios can be used with or without guided instruction as they include videos, presentations, labs, and other material intended to facilitate both synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Our material has been used in classes at several educational institutions. The scenarios have been used in four-year universities, two-year community colleges and a high school. We have assessed student learning for twenty students, in three courses. Our assessment shows that students completing the scenarios can apply the concepts being taught in the scenarios.

Funding for this project has been provided by an NSF ATE grant.