An Analysis Upon Toward Cyber Secure and Reliable Networked Control Systems: Concepts and Research Trends: Enhancing Security and Reliability in Networked Control Systems: Concepts and Research Trends

Abstract

Over the past decade,many concerns have been raised about the vulnerabilities of infrastructuresystems to both random failures and security attacks. Cyber-security ofSupervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems is especiallyimportant, because these systems are employed for sensing and control of largephysical infrastructures. So far, the existing research in robust andfault-tolerant control does not account for cyber-attacks on networked controlsystem (NCS) components. The trend towards usingpervasive information technology systems, such as the Internet, results incontrol systems becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyber threats. Traditionalcyber security does not consider the interdependencies between the physicalcomponents and the cyber systems. On the other hand, control-theoreticapproaches typically deal with independent disturbances and faults, thus theyare not tailored to handle cyber threats. Security and reliabilityare essential properties in Networked Control Systems (NCS), which areincreasingly relevant in several important applications such as the processindustry and electric power networks. The trend towards using non-proprietaryand pervasive communication and information technology (IT) systems, such asthe Internet and wireless communications, may result in NCS being vulnerable tocyber-attacks. Traditional IT security does not consider the interdependenciesbetween the physical components and the cyber realm of IT systems. Moreover,the control theoretic approach is not tailored to handle IT threats, focusinginstead on nature-driven events. This paper addresses the security andreliability of NCS, with a particular focus on power system control andsupervision, contributing towards establishing a framework capable of analyzingand building NCS security.