Virtual ICS Controller Switchover Under Cyberattack
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are vulnerable to cyberattacks, leading to degradation, halt, or destruction of control systems, with existing security measures being inefficient and costly, and conventional methods like 'castle wall' approaches and redundancy are inadequate in providing rapid response and recovery.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a virtualization server and orchestration engine to instantiate virtual controllers, leveraging cryptographic attestation and software-defined networking to quarantine affected controllers and reroute traffic to virtual machines, ensuring continuous system functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional security measures like 'castle wall' approaches and redundancy are used, then system security is improved, but response time and recovery capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-configures virtual controller templates and cryptographic attestation mechanisms before attacks occur. When an attack is detected, the system can immediately instantiate a virtual controller using the pre-prepared template, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual configuration or redundant hardware switching.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual copy (virtual controller) of the affected physical controller that replicates its functionality. This virtual controller can take over immediately upon detection of an attack, providing rapid recovery without requiring physical hardware replacement or complex redundancy switching.
2Productivity
If virtualization is implemented for rapid response, then recovery capability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The virtualization server and orchestration engine serve multiple functions: they manage virtual controller instantiation, handle cryptographic attestation, perform quarantine operations, and coordinate traffic routing. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized components, thereby managing complexity while enhancing recovery capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The orchestration engine acts as an intermediary that coordinates between the IPD framework, virtualization server, SDN controller, and affected controllers. It centralizes the complexity of managing virtualization, attestation, and traffic routing, making the overall system more manageable despite the added virtualization layer.
3Reliability
If cryptographic attestation is performed, then trust verification is improved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Cryptographic attestation is performed in advance when virtual controllers are instantiated and configured. The attestation results are cached and validated, so that during actual attack scenarios, the verification process is expedited rather than performed from scratch, reducing real-time processing overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses cryptographic copies (attestation tokens and verified identities) of controller credentials that can be rapidly validated without requiring full cryptographic verification each time. This allows trust verification to be performed efficiently during attack response operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are method, computing device, and computer-readable medium embodiments for providing system resiliency in an Industrial Control System (ICS) having an operational technology (OT) network. An orchestration engine can determine a security alert indicating a security attack against an affected controller, and instruct a virtualization server to instantiate a virtual controller performing the set of functions performed by the affected controller. The orchestration engine can quarantine the affected controller by disabling the set of connections between the affected controller, the orchestration engine, and the set of operational components. The orchestration engine can route communication traffic of the communication network intended for the affected controller to the virtual controller, and enable the virtual controller to control operations of the set of operational components of the OT network that were controlled by the affected controller.