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GUEST EDITORIAL
Cyber Security of Networked Critical Infrastructures
Saed Abu-Nimeh
A
Ernest Foo
Igor Nai Fovino
new era of cyber warfare has appeared on the horizon with the discovery and detection of Stuxnet. Allegedly planned, designed, and created by the United States and Israel, Stuxnet is considered the first known cyber weapon to attack an adversary state. Stuxnet’s discovery put a lot of attention on the outdated and obsolete security of critical infrastructure. It became very apparent that electronic devices that are used to control and operate critical infrastructure like programmable logic controllers (PLCs) or supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems lack very basic security and protection measures. Part of that is due to the fact that when these devices were designed, the idea of exposing them to the Internet was not in mind. However, now with this exposure, these devices and systems are considered easy prey to adversaries. In this Special Issue, we focus on the advances of research in the area of the security of networked critical infrastructure. SCADA systems and the Internet and its components are a few examples of networked critical infrastructure. The objectives of this Special Issue are twofold. First, we aim to present the latest advances in the security of networked critical infrastructure research. Second, we hope that this Special Issue will encourage and stimulate more activities in the field. This Special Issue brings together some of the latest research studies in the field of networked critical infrastructure security. It comprises four articles that discuss a wide range of problems. In the first article, Vaidya et al. present a lightweight multi-factor authentication and attribute-based authorization approach to protect SCADA systems. Their approach relies on public key certificates and a zero-knowledge protocol-based server-aided verification mechanism. An access control mechanism using an attribute certificate are used to authenticate remote users. In the second article, Cao et al. present a layered encryption approach to protect critical infrastructure networks. The mechanism utilizes hash chain technology to protect
IEEE Network • January/February 2013
Manimaran Govindarasu
Thomas Morris
the data in such networks. Since critical infrastructure comprises resource-constrained devices, the proposed approach is lightweight and can be used either independently or in combination with other protocols. In the third article, Amin et al. present a framework for assessing security risks in cyber-physical systems. To benchmark risks in cyber-physical systems, the framework focuses on reliability and security risks. A model-based approach to estimate these risks is proposed. Finally, they suggest that risk assessment of cyber-physical devices should consider both technology-based defenses and institutional structures to be more effective. In the fourth article, Casalicchio et al. present an approach to measure the health of the Domain Name System (DNS). The Measuring the Naming System (MeNSa) framework is described. Metrics on DNS are aggregated to verify the level of service and the presence or absence of threats. In summary, the four articles in this Special Issue represent some of the latest novel advances in the research of networked critical infrastructure security. We hope that the discussions and findings in these articles will be of value and stimulate new ideas to future research.
Biographies SAEED ABU-NIMEH (
[email protected]) is a distinguished scientist at PayPal Inc. He received his Ph.D. in computer science from Southern Methodist University. His research interests include web security and machine learning. E RNEST F OO (
[email protected]) is an active researcher in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queensland University of Technology. His research is in the area of information and network security. He has broad interests, having published in the area of formal analysis of privacy and identity management protocols as well as proposing secure reputation systems for wireless sensor networks. Recently, he has been conducting research in the area of secure SCADA and critical infrastructure protection. In the past, he has worked extensively in the field of electronic commerce protocols investigating secure protocols for electronic tendering and electronic contracting in the Australian construction industry. These protocols are of particular importance in ensuring secure electronic procurement in both the government and private sectors. He has over 40 publications in internationally refereed conferences and journals.
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GUEST EDITORIAL I GOR N AI F OVINO (
[email protected]) is head of the Research Division of the Global Cyber Security Center. He has deep knowledge in the fields of ICT Security of industrial critical infrastructure, energy and smart grids, risk assessment, IDS, and cryptography. He is an author of more than 60 scientific papers published in international journals, books, and conference proceedings; moreover, he serves as a reviewer for several international journals in the ICT security field. In May 2010 he received the IEEE HSI 2010 best paper award in the area of SCADA systems. He is also an expert in European policies (mainly in the CIIP field). Since 2012 he has been a member of the European Commission Experts Working Group on the security of ICS and smart grids. During his career he has worked as a contractual researcher at the University of Milano in the field of privacy preserving datamining and computer security, and as a contractual professor of operating systems at the University of Insubria. From 2005 to 2011 he served as scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, providing scientific support to EU policies related to the EPCIIP program. Since 2007 he has been a member of the IFIP Working Group on Critical Infrastructure Protection. MANIMARAN GOVINDARASU [SM] (
[email protected]) is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. His research expertise is in the areas of cyber-physical systems security of smart grid, cyber security, and real-time systems. He has co-authored over 125 peer-reviewed publications in these areas. He recently has developed a cyber security testbed for smart grid at Iowa State University and conducts vulnerability assessment and attack-defense evaluations, and develops robust countermeasures. He is a co-author of the text Resource Management in Real-Time Systems and Networks (MIT Press, 2001). He has given tutorials at respected conferences (e.g., IEEE INFOCOM 2004, IEEE ComSoc Tutorials Now™, and IEEE ISGT 2012, and delivered industry short cours-
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es on the subject of cyber security. He has served in leadership roles in many IEEE conferences, symposia, and workshops. He serves on the editorial board of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid and served as a guest editor for several publications including IEEE Network (January 2003) and an IEEE Power & Energy Special Issue (January 2012), and serves as the Founding Chair of the Cyber Security Task Force at IEEE PES Society PSACE-CAMS Subcommittee and Vice-Chair of the CAMS Subcommittee. He is an ABET Program Evaluator. THOMAS M ORRIS (
[email protected]) received his Ph.D. in computer engineering at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, with a research emphasis on cyber security. He joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Mississippi State University (MSU) in 2008 as an assistant professor. He currently serves as director of the MSU Critical Infrastructure Protection Center (CIPC) and is a member of the MSU Center for Computer Security Research (CCSR). His primary research interests include cyber security for industrial control systems and electric utilities, and power system protective relaying. His recent research outcomes include vulnerability and exploit taxonomies, intrusion detection systems, virtual testbeds, and a relay setting automation program used by a top 20 investor owned utility. He has authored 33 peer reviewed research conference and journal articles in these areas. His research projects are funded by the Department of Homeland Security, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, NASA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research Development Center (ERDC), Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation, and Entergy Corporation. Prior to joining MSU, he worked at Texas Instruments (TI) for 17 years in multiple roles including circuit design and verification engineer, applications engineer, team leader, and program manager.
IEEE Network • January/February 2013
