That's put the DHS-funded INL security programs in the spotlight, because they form the backbone of the government's plan to secure industrial systems. "In many ways, we are connecting equipment that has never been connected before to this global network, and as we do so, we have the potential for problems," said Greg Schaffer, acting deputy undersecretary with the DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate, speaking at a briefing for reporters at INL. "They are kicking on the doors of these systems, and in some cases there have been intrusions."

There are about 75 people working on the INL programs, known collectively as the Control Systems Security Program. With an annual budget of just over US$25 million, they form the first line of defense against attacks on industrial systems.

Friday's exercise was put on for the benefit of the press. But every month about 40 engineers and computer security professionals are invited to test their skills at these day-long exercises, where members of a hacking group, known as the Red Team, try to break into a test network defended by the Blue Team.

According to Hahn, the good guys usually win, but not easily. The test networks are riddled with holes, none of which are known in advance to Blue Team members, and it's often a scramble to secure the systems before the Red Team maps out the network and disrupts the factory floor.

The control systems program one of the U.S. government's main weapons as it tries to beef up computer security in power plants, at chemical refineries and on factory floors. Companies that make the hardware and software for big industrial machines can come to INL for a hard-nosed security evaluation of their products. It's a good deal for vendors, as part of their testing costs are covered by taxpayers, and it's good for the lab, because its engineers get to learn about security problems that could flare up in the future.