Vulnerabilities of cyber-physical systems to stale data—Determining the optimal time to launch attacks

Marina Krotofil, Alvaro Cárdenas, Jason Larsen and Dieter Gollmann

International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, 2014, vol. 7, issue 4, 213-232

Abstract: This paper presents a new vulnerability assessment model based on timing attacks. In particular, it examines the problem where an adversary has access to a certain sensor reading or a controller output signal in real time, but can only cause denial of service (DoS). Jamming the communications to a device can cause the system to work with stale data that, in turn, could interfere with the control algorithm to the extent of driving the system to an undesirable state. If the DoS attack is not timed properly, the use of stale data by the controller or actuator would have a limited impact on the process. However, if the attacker is able to launch the DoS attack at the correct time, the use of stale data can drive the system to an unsafe state.

Keywords: Cyber-physical systems; Timing attacks; Best Choice Problem; Secretary Problem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ijocip:v:7:y:2014:i:4:p:213-232

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcip.2014.10.003

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