CIEBAT: Cyber-Informed Engineering Battery Analysis Tool
Design Resilient Battery Energy Storage Systems Against Cyber Threats
The Challenge
As battery energy storage systems (BESS) play a critical role in supporting renewable energy and stabilizing power grids, they also become prime targets for cyberattacks. Interruptions, misuse, or denial of BESS functions can result in power outages, operational disruptions, and significant financial losses. Traditional cybersecurity controls alone often fall short, as they fail to account for the engineering-level vulnerabilities unique to these systems.
For power utilities, cooperatives, and energy service providers, the question is clear: How can we protect critical BESS operations from sophisticated cyber threats, while maintaining reliability and performance?
How It Works
The Cyber-Informed Engineering Battery Analysis Tool (CIEBAT) empowers engineering teams, operators, and cybersecurity professionals to proactively fortify BESS installations. Using the Department of Energy’s Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) methodology, the tool systematically identifies risks and mitigations to minimize cyber impacts.
1. Critical Function Identification: Users assess the essential functions of a BESS installation and rank their importance to system operations.
2. Impact Analysis: The tool guides teams to evaluate the consequences of function denial, disruption, or misuse resulting from cyberattacks.
3. Mitigation Recommendations: CIEBAT helps users pinpoint engineering-based controls to reduce the severity of cyber impacts and prioritize traditional cybersecurity protections where they will be most effective.
4. Resilience from Concept to Operation: By integrating cyber resilience into the design phase and operational lifecycle, CIEBAT ensures BESS systems remain reliable even in the face of emerging threats.
Key Advantages
• Holistic Cyber Resilience: Combines engineering-based mitigations with cybersecurity controls to reduce the likelihood and impact of attacks.
• Systematic Risk Analysis: Enables BESS designers and operators to identify critical vulnerabilities and prioritize protective actions.
• Customizable for Operations: Tailors recommendations to specific BESS installations, focusing on practical solutions relevant to real-world systems.
• Supports Long-Term Reliability: Promotes cyber-resilient design decisions that safeguard BESS systems from concept through deployment.
Market Applications
• Power Utilities and Renewable Energy Providers: Improve the resilience of BESS installations in microgrids and distributed energy networks. Protect power delivery systems from cyber incidents.
• Battery Energy Storage System Designers: Integrate cyber-informed protections during system design to mitigate vulnerabilities before deployment.
• Cybersecurity Analysts and Engineers: Identify critical operational risks and guide the application of tailored cybersecurity defenses for BESS systems.
• Tool Developers and Researchers: Extend the CIEBAT methodology to other cyber-vulnerable infrastructure systems beyond energy storage.
This software is open source and available at no cost. Download now by visiting the product's GitHub page.