Infrastructure Control Systems Research Articles

Design Method of Electrical Automation Control System Infrastructure based on Path Optimization Hybrid Algorithm

Design Method of Electrical Automation Control System Infrastructure based on Path Optimization Hybrid Algorithm

A model for measuring multi‐concern assurance of critical infrastructure control systems

AbstractDigital transformation of engineering practice, paradigms, processes, and workforce engender agreement uncertainty among professionals, particularly in the critical industry control system field. Control systems are susceptible to cyber‐mediated changes that can uniquely affect the control of the physical world from data‐centric information systems. Change to the system can be introduced by any proposed or forced alteration that affects the acceptability, suitability, feasibility, or resiliency to perform its intended mission, either positively or negatively. The potential impact of the cybersecurity threat on control systems is difficult to quantify. Agreement among professionals about decision authority and Command and Control (C2) over this threat is even more challenging to quantify. Understanding what cybersecurity entails still needs to be widely understood by the critical infrastructure control system workforce, and the control system assets are not widely understood by the Information Technology (IT) workforce. This research introduces a model and methodology for measuring multi‐concern assurance through the statistical uncertainty analysis of Likert semantic differential scales. The model addresses agreement in priority, the lack of which means there might be competing aims, competing spending, and competing focus on different aspects of the cybersecurity governance or policy as examples. The outcome identifies where different types of professionals do not agree about cybersecurity readiness and best practices for critical infrastructure control systems.

On the necessity of using risk-oriented approaches in the development of railway transport infrastructure control systems

On the necessity of using risk-oriented approaches in the development of railway transport infrastructure control systems

Decomposition and sequential-AND analysis of known cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure control systems

Abstract We perform a detailed survey and analysis of the most significant attacks, which have targeted industrial control systems over the past decade, based on detailed incident reports from scientific and non-traditional resources. This work is the first that considers together a comprehensive set of real-world cyber-attacks with the purpose of deriving a set of common features focusing particularly on the process control network. Each attack is decomposed to provide a comprehensive overview followed by a discussion of the commonalities identified across attacks. To achieve this, each attack is modelled using Attack Trees with Sequential AND, and mapped to the industrial control system Cyber Kill Chain. We focus on the methods of intrusion rather than the identification of actors. This article can be read in two parts: first, an analysis of each attack, and secondly a discussion of the derived commonalities. The resulting commonalities can be used to develop improved detection strategies to detect modern adversarial techniques and tactics.

IT Infrastructure of the VEPP-5 Injection Complex Control System

The VEPP-5 Injection complex provides BINP colliders with electron and positron beams. In order to supply the beams in a continuous mode, the control system infrastructure needs to be highly available. It is proposed to implement this infrastructure using modern virtualization technologies. The design and implementation of the VEPP-5 injection complex control system infrastructure is described.

Cybersecurity training in control systems using real equipment

The relevance of cybersecurity in the field of critical infrastructures has been reinforced in the last years, as a result of the increased number of incidents. The European Union has developed policies oriented to promote research and education in security and critical infrastructure protection. It is widely recognized that there is a shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals due to the increasing demand. The situation is even more serious in the area of cybersecurity of critical infrastructures, due to the special characteristics of the control and monitoring systems needed for their operation. Furthermore, there is a knowledge gap between the industrial control experts, who generally have not received training in computer security, and the cybersecurity experts, who ignore the operation of industrial control systems. It is therefore necessary to create educational environments that support training and research oriented to bridge this gap without. For that reason, this paper presents a Laboratory of Critical Infrastructures Cybersecurity (CICLab) that is flexible enough to create different settings that simulate real situations on the critical infrastructure control systems. For that purpose, the laboratory includes different field, control and monitoring technologies that are widely used in four sectors: industry, energy management, building management and smart cities. Some educational activities are presented in the framework of this laboratory.

Cyber-Physical System Implementation into the Distributed Control System

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present the Single inverted pendulum laboratory model with LSM as a cyber-physical system (CPS). The implementation of the model application into the Distributed Control System infrastructure at the DCAI, FEEI, TU is first described. Pre-prepared program modules from the custom Simulink library Inverted Pendula Modeling and Control, developed by the authors of this paper, are used in subsequent modeling and control design. The contribution to the simulation model level of the DCS infrastructure is described in detail - the nonlinear mathematical model obtained from the library is modified to include the velocity loop, and the necessary parameters are obtained via experimental identification. Finally, a control strategy based on a hybrid control structure is designed and swing-up/stabilizing control algorithms are verified on the laboratory model.

A framework for mastering heterogeneity in multi-layer security information and event correlation

We detected limits of SIEM systems while being used to protect critical infrastructures from sophisticated cyberattacks.We developed a new data collection and pre-correlation framework named GET.GET links physical to logical security and exploits knowledge of the Business Process.The GET framework has been integrated into the open-source SIEM OSSIM.We validated the GET in a dam control system and a mobile phone based payment service. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a consolidated technology that relies on the correlation of massive amounts of security-relevant information in order to detect ongoing attacks and intrusions. This correlation process is usually fed with logs generated by network devices and equipment, thus proving to be ineffective against attacks that affect multiple domains (e.g. physical, logical) or different architectural levels (e.g. network, operating system, application) of a service infrastructure. To bridge the gap, we propose a flexible framework for event collection and correlation, namely the Generic Event Translator, which is able to process heterogeneous data and spot evidence of security issues by using complex event pattern detectors that correlate information from multiple architectural layers and domains of the monitored infrastructure. The framework has been integrated into the open-source SIEM OSSIM, and validated in two challenging case studies, namely a dam infrastructure control system and a mobile phone based payment service. Display Omitted

Intelligent secure patching service for enhancing infrastructure control system performance

Various ICT features are being embedded in an industrial control system (ICS), in accordance with the advancement of information communication devices and an increase in convenience. ICS features and efficiency have been improved through a convergence with ICT technology but they are being exposed to external cyber attacks that take advantage of ICT technology vulnerabilities, and advanced persistent threats attack taking advantage of connectionless devices such as a USB. In particular, malwares that enter infrastructure control system through portable storage device are causing direct/indirect damages to infrastructure and becoming a significant social issue. This paper developed a security patch system for ensuring the stability of a portable storage device data. Specifically, it was designed to create an isolated space for a connectionless device and to execute a selective patch. Based on this study, a safe utilization of infrastructure will be expected.

Game-Theoretic Methods for Robustness, Security, and Resilience of Cyberphysical Control Systems: Games-in-Games Principle for Optimal Cross-Layer Resilient Control Systems

Critical infrastructures, such as power grids and transportation systems, are increasingly using open networks for operation. The use of open networks poses many challenges for control systems. The classical design of control systems takes into account modeling uncertainties as well as physical disturbances, providing a multitude of control design methods such as robust control, adaptive control, and stochastic control. With the growing level of integration of control systems with new information technologies, modern control systems face uncertainties not only from the physical world but also from the cybercomponents of the system. The vulnerabilities of the software deployed in the new control system infrastructure will expose the control system to many potential risks and threats from attackers. Exploitation of these vulnerabilities can lead to severe damage as has been reported in various news outlets [1], [2]. More recently, it has been reported in [3] and [4] that a computer worm, Stuxnet, was spread to target Siemens supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems that are configured to control and monitor specific industrial processes.

ОРГАНИЗАЦИОННО-СТРУКТУРНЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ В УПРАВЛЕНИИ ИНФРАСТРУКТУРНЫМИ ПРОЕКТАМИ

В статье системно представлены субъекты и объекты системы управления инфраструктурными проектами. Исследована структура функций инжиниринга в системе управления инфраструктурным проектом. Рассмотрен организационно-экономический механизм управления инфраструктурными проектами в формате ГЧП. Предложена оптимальная организационная структура, наиболее подходящая для реализации проекта в зависимости от объема участия государства.

Special Issue on Cyber Defense: Methodologies and Techniques for Evaluation

Welcome to this special issue of the Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation on ‘Cyber Defense: Methodologies and Techniques for Evaluation’. The cyber domain has emerged as a strategic national asset of interest to both military and civilian sectors. The overlap between military and commercial networking resources and infrastructure complicates issues of protection, defense, and offense. The defense community is tasked not only with protecting our military information systems commercially procured, but also in protecting our nation’s strategically vital enterprises. Homeland defense rests squarely on our ability to guard critical infrastructure control systems that have a wide range of exploitable vulnerabilities. In this issue we look at several publications that make contributions related to securing the cyber domain: (1) a formal model to capture human behavior in the cyber realm; (2) modeling results that capture efficacy of Global Information Grid awareness through Network Tasking Orders (NTOs); (3) performance modeling for virtual environments that aid in defensive training scenarios; (4) a model for attack analysis on underlying network control protocols; and (5) simulation results comparing centralization methods used in log-based security systems. Robinson and Cybenko tackle the issue of capturing and analyzing human behavior related to observable actions conducted by users in the cyber domain. Little work has been done in modeling cyber-specific human behavior and their paper presents a novel extension to traditional topic modeling. Using their methodology, more precise data analysis activities may be conducted to extract quantitative information related to cyber security. By translating normal topic models related to document handling, they derive more cyber-appropriate characteristics such as users, sessions, activities, and behaviors. Using weighted probabilities and sampling distributions, appropriate matrices may be derived that are useful for classifying patterns of behavior and probabilistic models for predictive analysis. By analyzing user behaviors in such a way, a key layer of cyber situational awareness is created: changes in historical user behaviors may indicate telltale signs of insider activity or malicious corruption. Cyber planners and operators, particularly in the Department of Defense (DoD), face the problem of how to manage cyber assets to ensure synchronization of efforts and economy of force. Although air planners have longed benefited from the Air Tasking Order (ATO: a daily allocation of air assets to support current mission requirements), the cyber domain has no correlation. Compton et al. propose the use of a NTO to help allocate resources in the DoD’s Global Information Grid, particularly for mobile assets that are part of highly dynamic network topologies. Although NTOs are not a new concept, Compton and colleagues use the concept to specifically optimize network resources as opposed to using them for supporting air missions themselves (the traditional use to date). By building upon the traditional structure of an ATO, this paper providers a clear translation to cyberspecific tasking and shows how a prior knowledge of network resources may be used in simulations during the NTO planning phase to support Quality of Service goals during execution. A major area of research within DoD currently revolves around how to defend host machines and network resources themselves. Grimaila et al. compare methods for collecting, logging, and correlating events used for defensive analysis. Centralized logging, the traditional method for event correlation, comes with shortfalls because it does

Critical Infrastructure Security and Industrial Control Systems

This paper focuses on threats to critical infrastructure-both physical threats and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) security weaknesses. Current threats to critical infrastructure include disgruntled employees, hackers, militia and terrorist. Specifically, this paper focuses upon terrorist threats with the main focus being al Qaeda and Taliban threats. Since 9/11 many plots have been deterred by these two groups or followers of these groups. In a vast majority of these plots, information found on confiscated computers have shown these groups as having a growing interest in critical infrastructure and Industrial Control Systems (ICS). This paper is geared towards individuals who have a general understanding of infrastructure operations and terrorist threats.

Towards the realisation of context-risk-aware access control in pervasive computing

This paper proposes a novel Context-Risk-Aware Access Control (CRAAC) model for Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp) environments. Context-aware access control allows access permissions to be adjusted dynamically in adaptation to the changes in the surrounding context. Though current context-aware access control solutions can, to a certain extent, achieve such context adaptation, there are still limitations in these solutions. One of the limitations is that they make use of an architectural model by which the two major functional blocks, context infrastructure and access control system, are tightly coupled together. As a result, they are not flexible nor generic to accommodate various access control constraints and policy settings. The CRAAC model is designed to overcome this limitation. By introducing the concept of risk aware and authorisation levels of assurance (LoA) into the authorisation decision making, and by maximising the use of a component-based approach in the architectural design, the model has successfully decoupled context infrastructure and access control system making it more extensible in providing the required functionality, and more flexible in accommodating different contextual attributes and their mutual correlation. In addition, it interoperates and is backward compatible with traditional role-based access control solutions.

Vulnerability Assessment for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems

Assessing security in critical control systems is a particular task that can have dangerous real-world consequences if done poorly or according to more traditional security assessments. In 2006, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation adopted the Critical Infrastructure Protection standards for cyber vulnerability assessment of critical infrastructure control systems. Such CIP assessments entail challenges at each stage, from planning and assessing to reporting results and recommending vulnerability mitigation approaches.

Meeting Real–Time Traffic Flow Forecasting Requirements with Imprecise Computations

This article explores the ability of imprecise computations to address real–time computational requirements in infrastructure control and management systems. The research in this area focuses on the development of nonparametric regression as a means to forecast traffic flow rates for transportation management systems. Nonparametric regression is a forecasting technique based on nearest neighbor searching, in which forecasts are derived from past observations that are similar to current conditions. A key concern regarding nonparametric regression is the significant time required to search for nearest neighbors in large databases. The results presented in this article indicate that approximate nearest neighbors, which are imprecise computations as applied to nonparametric regression, may be used to adequately speed the execution time of nonparametric regression, with acceptable degradations in forecast accuracy. The article concludes with a demonstration of the use of genetic algorithms as a design aid for real–time algorithms employing imprecise computations.

Distributed Sensing and Control Technology for Intelligent Civil Infrastructure Systems

Abstract: Sensing and control functions are the fundamental technologies on which many civil infrastructure control and monitoring systems are constructed. Early civil infrastructure control and monitoring systems employed a centralized computing model for sensor processing and actuator control. These systems required extensive wiring to route power, sensor, and control signals among the distributed input and output devices. Furthermore, the operation of the entire system depended on one or two computers. Abstractly, these civil infrastructure applications are a realtime data acquisition and control system. Due to the dramatic decrease in computing costs, it is now feasible to construct these real‐time systems using dozens or even hundreds of distributed processors linked with a data communication network. This allows the controllers to be located adjacent to sensors and actuators, thereby reducing the need for long lengths of multiconductor wire that is subject to noise and breakage. Also, failure of a single processor does not necessarily cause the entire system to fail. This paper introduces the reader to a technology called LonWorks for constructing distributed sensing and control systems. The LonWorks technology is essentially a data communication network that links together extremely small computers called Neurons. Particular emphasis is placed on describing the communication architecture and emphasizing how the distributed Neuron communication processors are designed to ensure a truly modular and open architecture.