Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, has secured $3 million in funding for an Idaho National Laboratory (INL) project aimed at preventing and catching cyber attacks on our nation’s critical infrastructure. The funding is included as part of the Fiscal Year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill which was approved by the House Appropriations Committee earlier today.

Officially termed Cyber Attacks on Control Systems Vulnerability Analysis, Testing, and Mitigation, the cyber attacks research funding will be used to develop an enhanced, fully operational capability at INL to conduct analysis of cyber attacks, vulnerability discovery, mitigation engineering and operational training for the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Security Division.  INL is a Center of Excellence for Critical Infrastructure Protection, and has an established, internationally recognized control systems cyber security program that works every day to protect our nation and its critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.

“INL is a world leader in the arena of cyber security and has demonstrated time and again that its researchers are on the cutting edge of this ever evolving national security issue,” said Simpson. “We are in the middle of a multi-year effort to enhance INL’s capabilities in this area and I am confident these funds will pay enormous dividends for our nation and its taxpayers. I commend the INL, its management, and its workforce for their accomplishments and for the leadership they have shown in helping protect our nation against one of its fastest growing and most dangerous threats.”

Commenting on the importance of this funding, INL Associate Lab Director for National and Homeland Security, Dr. KP Ananth said, "I want to thank Congressman Simpson and the House Appropriations Committee for their continued confidence in the work we are doing at INL.  The additional funds requested by Congressman Simpson will help INL researchers enhance our capability to support the Department of Homeland Security to realistically test cyber attacks on control systems and assess the impacts of the attacks on our nation's critical infrastructure assets."

The homeland security mission of the INL is to develop, test and deploy technologies to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure.  The Idaho National Laboratory builds on more than five decades of expertise.  INL successfully serves as a test range for numerous governmental activities with an emphasis on nuclear and military development and testing.  The site’s remote location, sophisticated infrastructures and science and engineering base make the site the preeminent critical infrastructure test bed that supports the security mission of the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the nation.

The Homeland Security Appropriations bill is now headed to the House floor for consideration where approval is expected later this month.