Automated Cyber Security Testing Platform for Industrial Control Systems.
Abstract not provided.
Hahn, Andrew Stuart↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “security systems”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Unmanned Aerial Systems Studies for Spent Fuel Transport Security.
Abstract not provided.
Durbin, Samuel↗
Secure Control Regions for Distributed Stochastic Systems with Application to Distributed Energy Resource Dispatch: Preprint
With the increasing connectedness and interdependence of systems that are stochastic in nature, the issue of how to manage and coordinate them for safe operation has evidently become more important. In many networked system architectures, the system-wide output has to be delicately managed; often within a prescribed set of bounds. In this paper, a novel control framework is proposed where the bounds on the outputs are translated into independent bounds on the controllable inputs of each subsystem. The main benefit of this framework is that respecting the individual control bounds suffices to guarantee that the system-wide outputs will remain within safe boundaries. Since the systems are assumed to be stochastic, the bounds on the output are introduced as probabilistic chance constraints. The benefits of this framework are demonstrated by applying it to the control of distributed energy resources in a distribution networks where main goal is to keep the voltage magnitudes with their prescribed bounds. The control bounds are evaluated using real data on an IEEE test system.
chance constrained optimization↗
Language-Theoretic Data Analysis to Support ICS Protocol Baselining
Critical infrastructure stakeholders need to baseline their systems to understand expected protocol communications. Baseline behaviors may vary based on operational context. Expected operations during a maintenance window, for example, may be different from normal operations. Furthermore, constructing system baselines for Industrial Control Systems (ICS) is difficult and time-consuming. ICS processes generate artifacts expressed across heterogeneous data sources such as network traffic and device logs. This paper explores the hypothesis that such ICS artifacts form a language in the language-theoretic sense. From a theoretical perspective, the variety of implementations of ICS protocols and constrained environment of OT networks provide a rich application domain for language-theoretic approaches. We present several use cases related to the practical construction of system baselines: grammars for data fusion, language dialects for device fingerprinting, and security automata for system baselining
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
ReNew100: Reliable Power System Operation with 100% Renewable Generation
The ReNew100 project has developed and demonstrated an operator support system (OSS) to operate power systems with 100% renewable power generation from inverter-based resources (IBRs) like wind and solar that significantly reduces the risk of widespread power outages in a simulated operational environment at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. The OSS achieves resilient operation for power systems under changing operation modes including varying combinations of conventional and renewable generation, including cases with 100% renewable generation from wind and solar IBRs. The OSS continuously monitors the N-1 security of the power system, which refers to the ability of the power systems to survive single outages of power system elements, like the loss of a generator or a power line, without causing widespread power outages beyond those expected and planned for. If the OSS identifies that the system is not N-1 secure, an automatic Controller Parameter Optimization (CoPO) developed within Renew100 is activated to optimize the N-1 security of the system by tuning controller parameters within different assets like batteries, wind, and solar plants. The core innovation of ReNew100 is the development of this CoPO as well as the demonstration of the OSS for a real-time simulation of the Hawai'i Island power system. Moreover, Renew100 has developed new model calibration techniques for dynamic power system models and demonstrated them for Hawai'i Island.
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
A High-Fidelity Cyber-Physical Testbed-Based Benchmarking Dataset For Testing Operational Technology Specific Intrusion Detection Systems
Quality datasets serve a critical purpose in cyber security research. Data is needed to understand system behavior and develop security controls to protect critical systems. However, for critical infrastructure operational environments there is a lack of available datasets to study because of the high cost and specialized capabilities necessary to generate them. This paper documents the development of a dataset of high fidelity hardware in the loop laboratory simulated models of electric and natural gas distribution systems with real cyber attack test cases. A deep dive discussion for the experimental setup and controls for generating the data is provided along with observations from using the data in evaluating intrusion detection approaches.
Ashok, Aditya↗
Conceptualizing Energy Security and Resilience
Climate resilience and energy resilience are inextricably linked, since the transition to a safe and secure grid powered by renewables is central to both adaptation and mitigation efforts. As geopolitical tensions intensify and it becomes clear how integral supply chains are to our clean energy future, the term "energy security" has become a central concept, similar to resilience in the climate and energy lexicon. This project seeks to understand the role of energy system resilience within energy security. The key research questions are: "How are energy system resilience and energy security related?" and "What is the role of renewables within both security and resilience?" A strong conceptual understanding of these terms will set the stage for truly accelerating secure and resilient innovations at scale.
climate resilience↗
Dynamic IT Security Database and Analytics for Launch Control Systems Software
During the Summer 2020 session, I worked with intern Destani S. Van Arsdalen of EGS Software. Together, we co-created a tool to aid the dynamic investigation, updated over time,of the security compliance of LCS COTS and open source software. We originally planned touse spreadsheet software for management and analysis, but through this exploratoryproject, chose to use Python and JSON after receiving feedback on our project’s current anddesired capabilities at that time.At first, the project was solely designed to help on-board new COTS software, based on aquestionnaire that could be filled out for each software package. This, combined with usingthe spreadsheet application’s web-query capabilities to fetch information from the NVD,allowed presentation and analytics cells to automatically populate as elements of themanually-filled questionnaire changed. While this system was promising, we decided tochange technologies for a few reasons. In the spreadsheet, single cells could not hold complexdata like arrays and objects. The automatic population of cells and dynamic updates made itdifficult to manage and add new features. And finally, it had limited extensibility sinceadding new software required significant understanding of how both the spreadsheet wasconstructed, and the more obscure, proprietary scripting languages packaged with it.The pivot to a standard computer science database language of JSON, aided by thescripting capabilities of Python, greatly helped to improve the project’s functionality. First,and most importantly, the script’s import and analysis of database data is easilyreproducible. Additional data analysis can be modularly added without requiringmodification of the script and is capable of routine scheduling. The revised process can besplit into three parts. First, the conversion of LCS asset and software documentation into theJSON hierarchical database format. Second, the merging of this database with the NVD,forming a new data structure, using CPEs of the CVE object as a linking element betweenthem. And third, the automatically performed analytics and analysis of the combined data,in a modular and extensible format, to produce better informed business decisions. The outputted graphs, for example, are automatically generated by the Python script inconnection with the combined database. This allows updated graphs and any analytics to be re-rendered automatically following updates to the LCS’s initial asset documentation. Afinal report can then be programmatically and easily constructed from these sources to allow fully reproducible metrics for heavily evidenced risk management decisions.
it↗
Scalability, Interoperability, and Security at the Data Discovery Level: A System Administrator's Perspective
The Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) has been one of the best known Earth science and global change data discovery online resources throughout its extended operational history. The growing popularity of the system since its introduction on the World Wide Web in 1994 has created an environment where resolving issues of scalability, security, and interoperability have been critical to providing the best available service to the users and partners of the GCMD. Innovative approaches developed at the GCMD in these areas will be presented with a focus on how they relate to current and future GO-ESSP community needs.
Source record↗
Multichannel Deconvolution of Vibrational Shock Signals: An Inverse Filtering Approach
When transporting critical systems of national security interest, out-of-the ordinary, impulsive events that can potentially be undetected and affect overall system performance are of great concern. Impulsive events that can occur are essentially pulse-like, transient signals of short duration that evolve from various phenomena. Here the event can be created by either the dropping of a test object, the system, subjecting it to a compact high-energy blow or being struck unintentionally during transit resulting in potential damage. The intensity and location of the strike can cause an inoperability condition that is unacceptable in a national security environment. Therefore, it is essential to detect, classify and localize damage of any test object subjected to an impulsive-event. This effort was targeted to evaluate the vibrational response of test objects that are subjected to “transport” shocks and roadway vibrations during shipping and handling. Any potential damage that could be inflicted during transportation must not only be detected, but also be evaluated to determine the operational readiness of a test object before and after transport. This event is a critical task that must be addressed as part of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) national security mission. The estimation of excitation signals from noisy data is termed the deconvolution problem in the signal processing literature. The deconvolution problem is based on recovering the input excitation signal from a system characterized by its impulse response sequence. Using this model of the system, an “inverse” representation or filter is developed to remove the system from the measured data and recover the input. Deconvolution techniques have existed for a long-time; however, transient deconvolution presents a few uncommon problems, since the signal has a finite-length time duration resulting in a limited amount of data containing information about the excitation process. The transient is wideband in the frequency domain relative to any measurement sensor implying that the smaller bandwidth sensor system “filters” the excitation eliminating some of its essential information for recovery. This fact, coupled with the filtering effect of the test object itself makes this excitation recovery (deconvolution) problem a challenge for signal processing.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Integrating AEAD Ciphers into Software-Defined-Storage Systems
The use of software-defined storage (SDS) systems to store sensitive data is becoming increasingly prevalent. However, these systems primarily implement security measures to ensure the confidentiality and availability of stored data, with limited consideration for the protection of its integrity. This paper outlines why this is a harmful development, as well as how integrity-protecting measures can be included into SDS systems. To demonstrate the practical challenges and opportunities of such measures, we integrated "authenticated encryption with associated data" (AEAD) ciphers into the widely used SDS system Ceph, specifically, into its block storage interface, to secure the integrity of stored data and metadata. Ultimately, we identify the characteristics that an SDS system should possess to adopt our methodology.
Mohren, David [University of New Brunswick, Canada↗
Verification of Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR) Insertion for Reliable and Trusted Systems
We propose a method for TMR insertion verification that satisfies the process for reliable and trusted systems. If a system is expected to be protected using TMR, improper insertion can jeopardize the reliability and security of the system. Due to the complexity of the verification process, there are currently no available techniques that can provide complete and reliable confirmation of TMR insertion. This manuscript addresses the challenge of confirming that TMR has been inserted without corruption of functionality and with correct application of the expected TMR topology. The proposed verification method combines the usage of existing formal analysis tools with a novel search-detect-and-verify tool. Field programmable gate array (FPGA),Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR),Verification, Trust, Reliability,
Trust↗
Towards generic memory forensic framework for programmable logic controllers
A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is a microprocessor-based controller that is used to automate physical processes in critical infrastructure and various other industries and manufacturing sectors. Initially, PLCs were completely isolated from the Internet, and cyber security was not incorporated at the time of development. The introduction of industry 4.0 and the evolution of ICS systems to communicate over public IP addresses from the Internet enhanced productivity and efficiency, but Internet connectivity exposed the systems and their vulnerabilities, which led to an increase in cyber attacks. When a system is sabotaged/compromised, security analysts need to get to the root cause of the attack as quickly as possible to recover the system. To do so, memory forensic analysis is critical to provide a unique insight into the run-time memory activities and extract a reliable source of evidence. In this paper, we analyze the memory structure of the Schneider Electric Modicon M221 PLC. To build a memory profile, we reverse engineer the communication protocol and conduct differential analysis to gain knowledge about the structure of the memory and the low-level representation of control logic instructions. We then identify dynamic and static memory regions by modifying different project fields and conducting differential analysis, which allows us to identify boundaries of critical memory structures and extract important forensic artifacts that can be found in the memory. The Python implementation of the memory profile can help reduce the time and effort required for manual analysis in case of cyber incident or system failure.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Developing a Standard Method for Link-Layer Security of CCSDS Space Communications
Communications security for space systems has been a specialized field generally far removed from considerations of mission interoperability and cross-support in fact, these considerations often have been viewed as intrinsically opposed to security objectives. The space communications protocols defined by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) have a twenty-five year history of successful use in over 400 missions. While the CCSDS Telemetry, Telecommand, and Advancing Orbiting Systems protocols for use at OSI Layer 2 are operationally mature, there has been no direct support within these protocols for communications security techniques. Link-layer communications security has been successfully implemented in the past using mission-unique methods, but never before with an objective of facilitating cross-support and interoperability. This paper discusses the design of a standard method for cryptographic authentication, encryption, and replay protection at the data link layer that can be integrated into existing CCSDS protocols without disruption to legacy communications services. Integrating cryptographic operations into existing data structures and processing sequences requires a careful assessment of the potential impediments within spacecraft, ground stations, and operations centers. The objective of this work is to provide a sound method for cryptographic encapsulation of frame data that also facilitates Layer 2 virtual channel switching, such that a mission may procure data transport services as needed without involving third parties in the cryptographic processing, or split independent data streams for separate cryptographic processing.
Biggerstaff, Craig↗
Automating security monitoring and analysis for Space Station Freedom's electric power system
Operating a large, space power system requires classifying the system's status and analyzing its security. Conventional algorithms are used by terrestrial electric utilities to provide such information to their dispatchers, but their application aboard Space Station Freedom will consume too much processing time. A new approach for monitoring and analysis using adaptive pattern techniques is presented. This approach yields an on-line security monitoring and analysis algorithm that is accurate and fast; and thus, it can free the Space Station Freedom's power control computers for other tasks.
Dolce, James L.↗
Automating security monitoring and analysis for Space Station Freedom's electric power system
Operating a large, space power system requires classifying the system's status and analyzing its security. Conventional algorithms are used by terrestrial electric utilities to provide such information to their dispatchers, but their application aboard Space Station Freedom will consume too much processing time. A novel approach for monitoring and analysis using adaptive pattern techniques is presented. This approach yields an on-line security monitoring and analysis algorithm that is accurate and fast; and thus, it can free the Space Station Freedom's power control computers for other tasks.
Dolce, James L.↗
A Robust Method to Secure Multi-Inverter Grid Tied PV and Battery Energy Storage Systems Against Cyber Intrusions
This paper details a robust method to secure a multi-inverter grid tied system that interfaces photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage against potential cyber-attacks. The method can be applied to any third-party inverter systems without a need to modify their internal controls. A small random private excitation signal termed "watermark" is injected into the DC input voltage terminals (via a series transformer) connected to the PV/battery inverter system. An external robust cyber intrusion detector (CID) hardware consisting of a digital signal processor (DSP) generates the "watermark" and also receives the sensor signals that control the setpoints of the PV/battery grid tied system. The CID algorithm is shown to detect all possible cyber intrusions (such as false data injection(FDI)) on external sensor signals such as P and Q measured by a smart meter that control the overall system operation. The proposed CID computes online system ID and two variance tests in real time on each sensor signal and is able pinpoint intrusion location in a multi-inverter system. Results on a hardware in the loop (HIL) of a two-inverter grid connected system demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed CID system for FDI and unobservable FDI. Test results on a laboratory prototype will be discussed in the conference presentation.
Ibrahim, Hasan↗
A Review of Machine Learning Applications in Power System Resilience
The integration of power electronics enabled devices and the high penetration of renewable energy drastically increase the complexity of power system operation and control. Power systems are still vulnerable to large-scale blackouts caused by extreme natural events or man-made attacks. With the recent development in artificial intelligence technique, machine learning has shown a processing ability in computational, perceptual and cognitive intelligence. It is an urgent challenge to integrate the advanced machine learning technology and large amount of real-time data from wide area measurement systems and intelligent electronic devices, in order to effectively enhance power system resilience and ensure the reliable and secure operation of power systems. Therefore, this paper aims to systematically review the existing application of machine learning methods on power system resilience enhancement, to expand the interest of researchers and scholars in this topic, and to jointly promote the application of artificial intelligence in the field of power systems.
Deep Learning↗