41,925 research outputs found
Improving SIEM for critical SCADA water infrastructures using machine learning
Network Control Systems (NAC) have been used in many industrial processes. They aim to reduce the human factor burden and efficiently handle the complex process and communication of those systems. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are used in industrial, infrastructure and facility processes (e.g. manufacturing, fabrication, oil and water pipelines, building ventilation, etc.) Like other Internet of Things (IoT) implementations, SCADA systems are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, therefore, a robust anomaly detection is a major requirement. However, having an accurate anomaly detection system is not an easy task, due to the difficulty to differentiate between cyber-attacks and system internal failures (e.g. hardware failures). In this paper, we present a model that detects anomaly events in a water system controlled by SCADA. Six Machine Learning techniques have been used in building and evaluating the model. The model classifies different anomaly events including hardware failures (e.g. sensor failures), sabotage and cyber-attacks (e.g. DoS and Spoofing). Unlike other detection systems, our proposed work helps in accelerating the mitigation process by notifying the operator with additional information when an anomaly occurs. This additional information includes the probability and confidence level of event(s) occurring. The model is trained and tested using a real-world dataset
An Assurance Framework for Independent Co-assurance of Safety and Security
Integrated safety and security assurance for complex systems is difficult for
many technical and socio-technical reasons such as mismatched processes,
inadequate information, differing use of language and philosophies, etc.. Many
co-assurance techniques rely on disregarding some of these challenges in order
to present a unified methodology. Even with this simplification, no methodology
has been widely adopted primarily because this approach is unrealistic when met
with the complexity of real-world system development.
This paper presents an alternate approach by providing a Safety-Security
Assurance Framework (SSAF) based on a core set of assurance principles. This is
done so that safety and security can be co-assured independently, as opposed to
unified co-assurance which has been shown to have significant drawbacks. This
also allows for separate processes and expertise from practitioners in each
domain. With this structure, the focus is shifted from simplified unification
to integration through exchanging the correct information at the right time
using synchronisation activities
Development of Economic Water Usage Sensor and Cyber-Physical Systems Co-Simulation Platform for Home Energy Saving
In this thesis, two Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) approaches were considered to reduce residential building energy consumption. First, a flow sensor was developed for residential gas and electric storage water heaters. The sensor utilizes unique temperature changes of tank inlet and outlet pipes upon water draw to provide occupant hot water usage. Post processing of measured pipe temperature data was able to detect water draw events. Conservation of energy was applied to heater pipes to determine relative internal water flow rate based on transient temperature measurements. Correlations between calculated flow and actual flow were significant at a 95% confidence level. Using this methodology, a CPS water heater controller can activate existing residential storage water heaters according to occupant hot water demand. The second CPS approach integrated an open-source building simulation tool, EnergyPlus, into a CPS simulation platform developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST platform utilizes the High Level Architecture (HLA) co-simulation protocol for logical timing control and data communication. By modifying existing EnergyPlus co-simulation capabilities, NIST’s open-source platform was able to execute an uninterrupted simulation between a residential house in EnergyPlus and an externally connected thermostat controller. The developed EnergyPlus wrapper for HLA co-simulation can allow active replacement of traditional real-time data collection for building CPS development. As such, occupant sensors and simple home CPS product can allow greater residential participation in energy saving practices, saving up to 33% on home energy consumption nationally
If it’s about me, why do it without me? : genuine student engagement in school cyberbullying education
This study reports on a three-year group randomized controlled trial, the Cyber Friendly
Schools Project (CFSP), aimed to reduce cyberbullying among grade 8 students during
2010-2012. In each year, 14-15 year old student ‘cyber’ leaders acted as catalysts to
develop and implement whole-school activities to reduce cyberbullying-related harms.
This paper examines students’ leadership experiences and the effectiveness of their
training and intervention efforts. A mixed methods research design comprising
interviews and questionnaires was used to collect data from 225 grade 10 students at the
end of their leadership years (2010 & 2011). Four to six cyber leaders were recruited
from each of the 19 intervention schools involved in each year of the study. The cyber
leaders reported high self-efficacy post-training, felt their intervention efforts made a
difference, and experienced a sense of agency, belonging and competence when given
opportunities for authentic leadership. They identified key barriers and enablers to
achieving desired outcomes. Students greatly valued having their voices heard. Their
engagement in the development and delivery of whole-school strategies allowed them to
contribute to and enhance efforts to promote their peers’ mental health and wellbeing.
However, a lack of support from school staff limits students’ effectiveness as changeenablers.peer-reviewe
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