Sniffing out grid attacks

Power quality expert Alex McEachernset out to build an advanced power sensor for utility distribution grids, and he accidentally ended up producing a promising tool to protect power grids from cyberattack. Data from the equipment-developed by McEachern and collaborators at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)-will be part of the starter pack for R&D contractors participating in a US $77 million power grid cybersecurity program that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) kicked off in August.