Home // CYBER 2024, The Ninth International Conference on Cyber-Technologies and Cyber-Systems // View article


Graceful Degradation under Attack: Adapting Control Device Operation Depending on the Current Threat Exposure

Authors:
Rainer Falk
Christian Feist
Steffen Fries

Keywords: cyber resilience; cyber physical system; industrial security; cybersecurity.

Abstract:
Cybersecurity includes preventing, detecting, and reacting to cyber-security attacks. Cyber resilience goes one step further and aims to maintain essential functions even during ongoing attacks, allowing to deliver an intended service or to operate a technical process, and to recover quickly back to regular operation. When an attack is carried out, the impact on the overall system operation is limited if the attacked system stays operational, even with degraded performance or functionality. Control devices of a cyber physical system typically monitor and control a technical process. This paper describes a concept for a control device that can adapt to a changing threat landscape by adapting and limiting its functionality. If attacks have been detected, or if relevant vulnerabilities have been identified, the functionality is increasingly limited towards essential functions, thereby reducing the attack surface in risky situations, while allowing the cyber physical system to stay operational.

Pages: 9 to 12

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2024

Publication date: September 29, 2024

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2519-8599

ISBN: 978-1-68558-186-2

Location: Venice, Italy

Dates: from September 29, 2024 to October 3, 2024