IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ijocip/v22y2018icp62-69.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On PLC network security

Author

Listed:
  • Ghaleb, Asem
  • Zhioua, Sami
  • Almulhem, Ahmad

Abstract

Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is an important component in modern Industrial Control Systems (ICS) particular in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. Disturbing the normal operation of PLCs can lead to significant damages ranging from minor annoyance to large scale incidents threatening the life of people. While most of existing work in the SCADA security literature focuses on the communication between PLCs and field devices, this paper presents a network security analysis of the communication between PLCs and the engineering stations in charge of setting up and configuring them. Interestingly, this aspect of SCADA security was exploited by the most famous SCADA attack, namely, Stuxnet. Using a testbed with a common PLC device, we successfully carried out three network attacks leading to serious compromise of typical PLCs.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghaleb, Asem & Zhioua, Sami & Almulhem, Ahmad, 2018. "On PLC network security," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 62-69.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ijocip:v:22:y:2018:i:c:p:62-69
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcip.2018.05.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1874548215300421
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijcip.2018.05.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huitsing, Peter & Chandia, Rodrigo & Papa, Mauricio & Shenoi, Sujeet, 2008. "Attack taxonomies for the Modbus protocols," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 1(C), pages 37-44.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hui, Henry & McLaughlin, Kieran & Sezer, Sakir, 2021. "Vulnerability analysis of S7 PLCs: Manipulating the security mechanism," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    2. Luiz Fernando Ribas Monteiro & Yuri R. Rodrigues & A. C. Zambroni de Souza, 2023. "Cybersecurity in Cyber–Physical Power Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-34, June.
    3. Robles-Durazno, Andres & Moradpoor, Naghmeh & McWhinnie, James & Russell, Gordon & Maneru-Marin, Inaki, 2019. "PLC memory attack detection and response in a clean water supply system," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Monzer, Mohamad-Houssein & Beydoun, Kamal & Ghaith, Alaa & Flaus, Jean-Marie, 2022. "Model-based IDS design for ICSs," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    2. Rodofile, Nicholas R. & Radke, Kenneth & Foo, Ernest, 2019. "Extending the cyber-attack landscape for SCADA-based critical infrastructure," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 14-35.
    3. Nai Fovino, Igor & Masera, Marcelo & De Cian, Alessio, 2009. "Integrating cyber attacks within fault trees," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 94(9), pages 1394-1402.
    4. Rahman, Ayesha & Mustafa, Ghulam & Khan, Abdul Qayyum & Abid, Muhammad & Durad, Muhammad Hanif, 2022. "Launch of denial of service attacks on the modbus/TCP protocol and development of its protection mechanisms," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    5. Cheng-Hui Chou & Chi-Che Wu & Kuan-Chu Lu & I-Hsien Liu & Tien-Hsiang Chang & Chu-Fen Li & Jung-Shian Li, 2018. "Modbus Packet Analysis and Attack Mode for SCADA System," Journal of ICT, Design, Engineering and Technological Science, Juhriyansyah Dalle, vol. 2(2), pages 30-35.
    6. Alvaro Llaria & Jessye Dos Santos & Guillaume Terrasson & Zina Boussaada & Christophe Merlo & Octavian Curea, 2021. "Intelligent Buildings in Smart Grids: A Survey on Security and Privacy Issues Related to Energy Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-37, May.
    7. Yampolskiy, Mark & Skjellum, Anthony & Kretzschmar, Michael & Overfelt, Ruel A. & Sloan, Kenneth R. & Yasinsac, Alec, 2016. "Using 3D printers as weapons," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 58-71.
    8. Nai Fovino, Igor & Carcano, Andrea & Masera, Marcelo & Trombetta, Alberto, 2009. "An experimental investigation of malware attacks on SCADA systems," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 139-145.
    9. CHERIFI, Tarek & HAMAMI, Lamia, 2018. "A practical implementation of unconditional security for the IEC 60780-5-101 SCADA protocol," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 68-84.
    10. Staggs, Jason & Ferlemann, David & Shenoi, Sujeet, 2017. "Wind farm security: attack surface, targets, scenarios and mitigation," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 3-14.
    11. Despoina Chochtoula & Aristidis Ilias & Yannis C. Stamatiou & Christos Makris, 2022. "Integrating Elliptic Curve Cryptography with the Modbus TCP SCADA Communication Protocol," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, July.
    12. Smitha Joyce Pinto & Pierluigi Siano & Mimmo Parente, 2023. "Review of Cybersecurity Analysis in Smart Distribution Systems and Future Directions for Using Unsupervised Learning Methods for Cyber Detection," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-24, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ijocip:v:22:y:2018:i:c:p:62-69. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-critical-infrastructure-protection .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.