Detachable Integrity Monitoring for Legacy Industrial Control Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for monitoring the integrity of automation equipment, particularly in resource-limited or legacy industrial IoT systems, face challenges such as complexity, hardware and software requirements, and licensing restrictions, making it difficult to ensure error-free operation and detect unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
A detachable integrity monitoring system that connects to control devices via local interfaces like RS232, USB, or SPI, allowing for real-time monitoring of operating state data without altering the existing equipment, using a cryptographically protected and mechanically interlocked integrity monitoring unit that can be updated independently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If host-based intrusion detection system software is installed to detect unauthorized access, then security monitoring capability is improved, but device complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The integrity monitoring functionality is extracted from the control device itself and implemented as a separate, detachable integrity monitoring unit. This external unit connects to the control device via standard interfaces to receive operating state data for analysis, thereby providing monitoring capability without adding complexity or resource requirements to the control device.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary integrity monitoring unit is introduced between the control device and the monitoring system. This unit acts as a mediator that collects operating state data from the control device through standard interfaces and performs integrity analysis externally, avoiding direct modification of the control device's internal software architecture.
2Reliability
If special monitoring software is installed on legacy equipment, then integrity monitoring is enabled, but compatibility and installation feasibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring functionality is extracted from the control device and implemented in an external integrity monitoring unit. This approach eliminates the need to install software on legacy equipment, as the external unit communicates with the control device through standard, pre-existing interfaces without requiring modifications to the legacy system.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrity monitoring unit is designed with universal compatibility to work with multiple types of control devices through standard interfaces. It can connect to various legacy equipment types without requiring device-specific adaptations, thereby achieving broad applicability across different legacy systems.
3Measurement precision
If power consumption or electromagnetic radiation monitoring is used for integrity checking, then detection capability is improved, but system complexity and hardware requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The control device itself provides the monitoring data by exporting its operating state data through standard interfaces. The integrity monitoring unit utilizes this self-provided data from the control device to perform integrity analysis, eliminating the need for additional sensors or specialized hardware that would otherwise be required for power consumption or electromagnetic radiation monitoring.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of the teachings herein include an integrity monitoring system for runtime integrity monitoring of a control device connected to sensors and/or actuators and comprising an automation device for collecting operating state data of the control device. The system may include an integrity monitoring unit detachably connectable directly to the control device to monitor the integrity status of the control device on the basis of operating state data transferred from the automation device to the integrity monitoring unit.