[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 114 (Monday, July 27, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. LEE TERRY

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 27, 2009

  Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership 
standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information 
regarding an earmark I received as part of the Department of Defense 
Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2010, H.R.3326.
  My Congressional District received $1,700,000 for research at the 
University of Nebraska at Omaha's College of Information Science and 
Technology's work with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) 
systems. These systems control critical national and defense 
infrastructure such as gas pipelines, utilities, and railroads.
  The Department of Defense, power companies, manufacturing plants and 
transportation networks rely on Supervisory Control and Data 
Acquisition (SCADA) systems. The Department of Homeland Security has 
grown increasingly concerned over the lack of security of SCADA 
networks. This concern is due to the fact that SCADA control systems 
are primarily owned by private companies and have been assembled 
together in a patchwork fashion over time to improve efficiency. Even 
though many military bases, including those operated by the U.S. Air 
Force, have separate SCADA systems in place to provide local power, 
they remain vulnerable because they use commercially produced, 
potentially flawed SCADA system hardware and software. Likewise, the 
U.S. electric power industry uses SCADA systems and is a potential 
target for terrorist attacks. Nearly 1,700 of the 3,200 power utilities 
have some type of SCADA system in place, and roughly one quarter of 
these utilities have no separation between the corporate network and 
the system control network. Clearly, U.S. infrastructure is operating 
in a very dangerous mode. External entities that may be able to gain 
access to control centers could turn off power, reroute trains, or shut 
down factories. Thus, a national security concern exists on two fronts: 
the capabilities of the military and public infrastructure safety.
  This project will develop methods which will be used within SCADA 
systems to increase the authenticity and integrity of data that provide 
control information. To achieve this goal, researchers will work with 
the U.S. Air Force and local industries to assess the most commonly 
used SCADA legacy equipment. This research will be guided by a project-
specific advisory board to ensure it is consistent and well-integrated 
into other national efforts and valuable to private sector 
infrastructure operators. This board could include members from Pacific 
Northwest National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Air Force 
Office Scientific Research, USSTRATCOM, U.S. Department of Homeland 
Security, Nebraska Public Power District, Omaha Public Power District, 
Northern Natural Gas, and Union Pacific Railroad.
  Education and Analysis Labs (mentioned above) will be used to conduct 
this work. The team is also well recognized in the cybersecurity 
community, as evidenced by the DoD-sponsored International Cyber 
Defense Workshop hosted at UNO in October 2008 with over 100 
participations from 16 countries. UNO is also uniquely positioned to 
perform advanced cybersecurity research specifically in SCADA system 
security because its researchers have connections with personnel in the 
military, industrial, and public infrastructure sectors using SCADA 
systems. These strong partnerships will guide and direct the research 
and its application. Researchers will also collaborate with Pacific 
Northwest National Laboratory, which has a SCADA system test bed and 
currently employs UNO graduates working on SCADA system problems.
  I was pleased to see this funding included in the Defense 
Appropriations Bill.

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