Protecting Control Systems from Hackers

Was asked to produce a comment on this area, previously mentioned, probably one of the most important aspects of advanced infrastructure.

New Approach Could Protect Control Systems From Hackers

This algorithm creates “background noise” during data transmission to alert officials to hacking
By Michelle Hampson   in IEEE Spectrum

Some of the most important industrial control systems (ICSs), such as those that support power generation and traffic control, must accurately transmit data at the milli- or even mirco-second range. This means that hackers need interfere with the transmission of real-time data only for the briefest of moments to succeed in disrupting these systems. The seriousness of this type of threat is illustrated by the Stuxnet incursion in 2010, when attackers succeeded in hacking the system supporting Iran’s uranium enrichment factory, damaging more than 1000 centrifuges.

Now a trio of researchers has disclosed a novel technique that could more easily identify when these types of attacks occur, triggering an automatic shutdown that would prevent further damage.

The problem was first brought up in a conversation over coffee two years ago. “While describing the security measures in current industrial control systems, we realized we did not know any protection method on the real-time channels,” explains Zhen Song, a researcher at Siemens Corporation. The group began to dig deeper into the research, but couldn’t find any existing security measures. ... "

Watermarking Control Data for Safety from Hackers

Thoughtful and apparently simple idea.

Approach Could Protect Control Systems From Hackers
IEEE Spectrum
Michelle Hampson
March 26, 2020

Researchers at Siemens and Croatia’s University of Zagreb have developed a technique to more easily identify attacks against industrial control systems (ICS), like those used in the electric power grid, or to control traffic. The researchers applied the concept of "watermarking" data during transmission to ICS, in a manner that is broadly applicable without requiring details about the specific ICS. In such a scenario, when data is transmitted in real time over an unencrypted channel, it is accompanied by a specialized algorithm in the form of a recursive watermark (RWM) signal; any disruption to the RWM signal indicates an attack is underway. Said Siemens' Zhen Song, “If attackers change or delay the real-time channel signal a little bit, the algorithm can detect the suspicious event and raise alarms immediately."

MSoft and IOT with Plug and Play

Somewhat late to this, but of interest.  Making ti simple to experiment with is useful.

Microsoft Simplifies And Streamlines IoT With Launch Of Plug And Play  in 7wData

The internet of things (IoT) seems to be everywhere these days—from smart thermostats to video doorbells to connected refrigerators all the way to industrial control systems (ICS) to streamline manufacturing and enable centralized management and monitoring of critical infrastructure. As ubiquitous as IoT seems, though, the skills necessary to design and implement an effective IoT solution are beyond the capabilities of most companies. Microsoft—working with a who’s who of industry partners—just launched IoT Plug and Play to drastically simplify and democratize IoT and make it accessible for everyone. ..

 ... Guthrie talks about automated machine learning, Azure Cognitive Services and more. Guthrie also shared, “In addition, we’re announcing IoT Plug and Play, a new open modeling language to connect IoT devices to the cloud seamlessly, enabling developers to navigate one of the biggest challenges they face — deploying IoT solutions at scale. Previously, software had to be written specifically for the connected device it supported, limiting the scale of IoT deployments. IoT Plug and Play provides developers with a faster way to build IoT devices and will provide customers with a large ecosystem of partner-certified devices that can work with any IoT solution.”  ... '