The U.S. Energy Department is conducting exercises with the private sector to enhance the energy industry’s ability to withstand cyber attacks in keeping with the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month dedicated to protecting critical infrastructure, according to an Oct. 26 press release. The agency’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, launched in February, engaged energy trade associations, investor-owned utilities, and municipalities in a tabletop exercise under the first phase of the “Liberty Eclipse 2018,” examining a national cyber incident affecting power entities and oil and gas resources. The second technical phase will be held on Plum Island, New York, from Nov. 1 through 7 in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to assess research technologies for black start recovery of the grid in the event of a cyber attack.