The Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI) Igor Sikorsky Physical-Technical Institute has launched a new training facility named the Cybersecurity Industrial Control System Laboratory.
This state-of-the-art lab aims to provide future cybersecurity specialists with hands-on experience in protecting the country's critical infrastructure.
The lab will serve approximately 200 current and future operators responsible for critical infrastructure, helping them enhance their skills and knowledge to reduce and eliminate vulnerabilities in automated control systems.
The lab's infrastructure replicates an industrial control system environment, simulating real-life situations across various sectors, such as manufacturing, water supply, and utilities. This setup facilitates practical experiments and expands training opportunities.
Julie Kohnen, USAID Mission Director in Ukraine, attended the laboratory’s opening:
“USAID is investing in cutting-edge equipment and software to protect Ukraine’s real-world critical infrastructure. This is important because the digital infrastructure, which cybersecurity experts are protecting, controls vital services — power grids, water supplies, and transportation networks. By providing hands-on experience with this equipment, we're ensuring Ukraine develops new cyber experts equipped to detect, neutralize, and outmaneuver cyber attacks targeting Ukraine’s most critical systems.”
The advanced laboratory and its equipment will aid future professionals in mastering cutting-edge cybersecurity methods and solutions, focusing on assessing vulnerabilities in both public and private critical infrastructure.
Additionally, the lab will develop specific training modules within educational and certification programs.
This initiative was made possible with the support of the USAID Project "Cybersecurity for Ukraine's Critical Infrastructure."
