Framework for OT Cybersecurity or Digital Twin?
A study based on OT Cyber Security proposes framework constituents of power systems, process networks, communication networks, automation networks, and enterprise networks for cybersecurity assessment in power system automation (PSA).
Assessing cybersecurity in PSA requires a framework to study and analyse the complex relationships between cyber-based control systems and power systems.
Due to potential impacts and disruptions, a production system could be better and more available for such assessment.
Both natural and virtual components' supportability are incorporated in the framework for covering good enough functionalities of power systems maintaining hardware diversity and scalability.
A specific instance of the proposed framework, Virtual Operational Technology Network (VOTNet), simulated and emulated systems such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), network devices, computing systems, software, and tools.
The VOTNet comprises a centralised control centre deployed with computing devices, an emulated communication network, a substation control centre, and power systems.
The evaluation and assessing the VOTNet for cybersecurity and scalability issues and its cyber-physical impacts under different cyberattacks such as:
- Unauthorized access,
- Denial of service (DoS),
- Modbus protocol scanning and data reading,
- Data manipulation/injection, and
- Session hijacking.
The researchers' idea is how much "isolation" you can create between different levels.
This is an idea mainly based on #iec62443.
Maybe the new thing here is the Communication Network but even that depends on how you read the standard.
In simple conclusion, I believe the solution is starting going towards replicating the operational system into the cloud (Digital Twin) and making the DT learn if something different happens between the field and the cloud.
Another step in the middle is: How do you collect all the data from the field and send it to the cloud to be processed?
That will be a theme for another post.
