Evaluating the Effects of Cyber-Attacks on Cyber Physical Systems using a Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation Testbed

Published

September 21, 2017

Author(s)

Bradley Potteiger, William Emfinger, Himanshu Neema, Xenofon Koutsoukos, CheeYee Tang, Keith A. Stouffer

Abstract

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) consist of embedded computers with sensing and actuation capability, and are integrated into and tightly coupled with a physical system. Because the physical and cyber components of the system are tightly coupled, cyber-security is important for ensuring the system functions properly and safely. However, the effects of a cyberattack on the whole system may be difficult to determine, analyze, and therefore detect and mitigate. This work presents a model based software development framework integrated with a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed for rapidly deploying CPS attack experiments. The framework provides the ability to emulate low level attacks and obtain platform specific performance measurements that are difficult to obtain in a traditional simulation environment. The framework improves the cybersecurity design process which can become more informed and customized to the deployment production environment of a CPS. The developed framework is illustrated with a case study of a railway transportation system.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the International Symposium on Resilient Communications Systems, Resilence Week

Conference Dates

September 18-22, 2017

Conference Location

Wilmington, DE, US

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Cybersecurity, Cyber-physical systems (CPS), Industrial control systems (ICS)

Citation

Potteiger, B. , Emfinger, W. , Neema, H. , Koutsoukos, X. , Tang, C. and Stouffer, K. (2017), Evaluating the Effects of Cyber-Attacks on Cyber Physical Systems using a Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation Testbed, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Resilient Communications Systems, Resilence Week, Wilmington, DE, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=923409 (Accessed December 12, 2024)