Assessing and augmenting SCADA cyber security: a survey of techniques

SCADA systems monitor and control critical infrastructures of national importance such as power generation and distribution, water supply, transportation networks, and manufacturing facilities. The pervasiveness, miniaturisations and declining costs of internet connectivity have transformed these systems from strictly isolated to highly interconnected networks. The connectivity provides immense benefits such as reliability, scalability and remote connectivity, but at the same time exposes an otherwise isolated and secure system, to global cyber security threats. This inevitable transformation to highly connected systems thus necessitates effective security safeguards to be in place as any compromise or downtime of SCADA systems can have severe economic, safety and security ramifications. One way to ensure vital asset protection is to adopt a viewpoint similar to an attacker to determine weaknesses and loopholes in defences. Such mind sets help to identify and fix potential breaches before their exploitation. This paper surveys tools and techniques to uncover SCADA system vulnerabilities. A comprehensive review of the selected approaches is provided along with their applicability

The natural history of bugs: using formal methods to analyse software related failures in space missions

Space missions force engineers to make complex trade-offs between many different constraints including cost, mass, power, functionality and reliability. These constraints create a continual need to innovate. Many advances rely upon software, for instance to control and monitor the next generation ‘electron cyclotron resonance’ ion-drives for deep space missions.Programmers face numerous challenges. It is extremely difficult to conduct valid ground-based tests for the code used in space missions. Abstract models and simulations of satellites can be misleading. These issues are compounded by the use of ‘band-aid’ software to fix design mistakes and compromises in other aspects of space systems engineering. Programmers must often re-code missions in flight. This introduces considerable risks. It should, therefore, not be a surprise that so many space missions fail to achieve their objectives. The costs of failure are considerable. Small launch vehicles, such as the U.S. Pegasus system, cost around $18 million. Payloads range from$4 million up to $1 billion for security related satellites. These costs do not include consequent business losses. In 2005, Intelsat wrote off$73 million from the failure of a single uninsured satellite. It is clearly important that we learn as much as possible from those failures that do occur. The following pages examine the roles that formal methods might play in the analysis of software failures in space missions

e-minesafe Safety and Training Simulator. The integration of knowledge and skills to achieve safe human responses

The Joint Coal Board (JCB) is concerned about the number of accidents and fatalities associated with the operation and maintenance of equipment in the New South Wales coal industry. In the last decade, equipment has become more sophisticated and the manner in which work is organised and performed in the industry has changed significantly. Therefore, through its Health and Safety Trust, the JCB commissioned a consortium comprising Mine Site Technologies and the School of Mining Engineering at the University of New South Wales to research the introduction of equipment training simulators into the industry. The research is planned to be undertaken in four stages. This report presents the outcomes of the first two stages. It recommends the development and testing of an interactive, immersive, virtual reality prototype simulator providing true to life imagery. The simulator will be modular in design such that various items of equipment can be plugged in as required. It is proposed that the evaluation of the prototype simulator be based on a continuous miner and a roof bolter, with the option to add a dump truck. This is because a high accident rate is associated with these items of equipment. Most of the research undertaken on the project to date has focused on these machines. The research has confirmed that JCB Simulators have a huge potential to improve: Mine Safety Productivity Business Performanc

Flight Simulator Model Integration for Supporting Pilot-in-the-Loop Testing in Model-Based Rotorcraft Design

Model-Based Design (MBD) enables iterative design practices and boosts the agility of the air vehicle development programs. Flight simulators are extensively employed in these programs for evaluating the handling qualities of the designed platforms. In order to keep up with the agility provided by the MBD, integration of the air vehicle models in fairly complex flight simulators needs to be addressed. The AVES Software Development Kit (SDK), which is the simulation software suite of DLR Air Vehicle Simulator (AVES), enables tackling the model integration starting from the modeler’s desktop. Additionally, 2Simulate, which is the enabling real-time simulation infrastructure of AVES SDK, provides automated model integration workflow for MATLAB/Simulink models using Simulink Coder code generation facilities. This paper presents the successful employment of AVES SDK and the 2Simulate model integration workflow for addressing integration challenges for Pilot-in-the-Loop Testing in AVES

Using Simulation to Leverage Digital Transformation of SMEs: A European Perspective

Digital transformation is one of the main challenges that SMEs face nowadays. Nevertheless, to a great extent, they lack the necessary capacities and skills to introduce and apply technologies that can support digitalization. As a design science approach, researchers from different European countries have carried out the collaborative research project VOIL to collect and scientifically develop resources and tools to support SMEs in building digital skills. In the context of this project, a tool is developed to assess the digital maturity of SMEs. Moreover, a learning journey based on the use of simulators is proposed together with a minimal viable prototype integrating all developed tools to provide a comprehensive learning environment. Lessons learned from the application of said learning online environment in experimental settings are also shared. The project results contribute to the research that has been carried out within the scope of life long learning, proposing the aggregation of pedagogical strategies that allow self-guided learning in the workplace