Security of Cyber-Physical Systems. From Theory to Testbeds and Validation

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development of a realistic, affordable cyber-physical testbed based on real components and protocols like Modbus and DNP3, to study threats and evaluate detection strategies in cyber-physical security.

Contribution

It introduces a replicable, cost-effective testbed architecture using real-world components for cybersecurity research in cyber-physical systems.

Findings

Testbed effectively emulates cyber-physical scenarios

Adversarial scenarios help evaluate security measures

Detection strategies show promise in threat identification

Abstract

Traditional control environments connected to physical systems are being upgraded with novel information and communication technologies. The resulting systems need to be adequately protected. Experimental testbeds are crucial for the study and analysis of ongoing threats against those resulting cyber-physical systems. The research presented in this paper discusses some actions towards the development of a replicable and affordable cyber-physical testbed for training and research. The architecture of the testbed is based on real-world components, and emulates cyber-physical scenarios commanded by SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) technologies. We focus on two representative protocols, Modbus and DNP3. The paper reports as well the development of some adversarial scenarios, in order to evaluate the testbed under cyber-physical threat situations. Some detection strategies are evaluated using our proposed testbed.