RICHMOND, Va. – We live in a connected world where the instant exchange of information makes our daily lives easier. The dark side of this connection means that those with bad intentions can quickly cause real harm.

This week, Dominion Energy and partner agencies from the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and federal and state law enforcement agencies gathered for the company's third “Cyber ​​Fortress,” designed to simulate real-world cyberattacks on the power grid.

“Our focus is on nation-state actors and sophisticated criminal malicious actors who have the very latest technology and are using it in very bad ways to cause harm,” said Adam Lee, Dominion Energy’s chief security officer. “In the event of a significant attack on the network, everyone plays their role.”

During the exercises, cybersecurity experts from private and public entities are divided into teams. The “red team” focuses on launching attacks on a simulated power grid, and the “blue team” is tasked with identifying, stopping and reversing any impacts.

“The attacks our red team launches accurately replicate the craftsmanship that hostile nation states and malicious actors use against critical infrastructure around the world,” Lee said.

A major attack on the electric grid could upend the daily lives of energy customers and key national assets, underscoring the importance of the interagency, public-private partnerships on display during the Cyber ​​Fortress, officials said. According to Reuters, energy regulators are reporting a continued rise in foreign adversaries of the United States looking for opportunities to attack key energy infrastructure.

“The Dominion Territory, particularly here in Virginia, is a no-fail territory,” Lee said. “It is absolutely important that Dominion not be as hard a target as we can make it, that our security practices continually evolve, but that we work with stakeholders to ensure that malicious actors do not penetrate networks across the United States .”

Col. Jamel Neville is the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Cyberspace Warfare Group based at Ft. Meade. This work, he said, allows their team to respond to threats more nimbly.

“They say cyber (security) is a team sport, but sometimes you can be on the same team and people have different rules,” Col. Neville said. “The reach, scale and sophistication of our adversaries have increased and evolved.”

Col. Neville is based in Maryland but grew up in Richmond, so returning to Cyber ​​Fortress work only further emphasized the human impact of the work.

“We want to protect the aunt at home on the couch, my parents, from the threats that want to disrupt our way of life,” said Col. Neville.

Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Terry Cole attended Wednesday's meeting to emphasize the value of intergovernmental and public-private collaboration in combating threats. Cole said the timing of Cyber ​​Fortress serves as a reminder to Virginians as Cybersecurity Awareness Month begins next week.

“It's critically important, especially given the threat landscape we're seeing in Virginia today,” Cole said of the exercise.

“Maybe read a little bit about what cybersecurity and cyber hygiene means, and also invest a little money to protect yourself,” Cole said. “Rest assured, Commonwealth employees, U.S. military personnel and our partner Dominion are doing everything we can to protect not only our customers, but also the critical infrastructure we have in place across the Commonwealth.”

For more information about Cybersecurity Awareness Month, visit resources from US Department of Defense And Virginia IT Agency.

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