A DNP3-based SCADA Architecture Supporting Electronic Signatures

Experimenting With Digital Signatures Over a DNP3 Protocol in a Multitenant Cloud-Based SCADA Architecture

“…We believe the idea can be traced back to its first mention in the paper of Hopkinson et al [23] concerning the quality of service associated with the communication networks of utility providers. Several attempts, proposals, and risk analyses have been made in the last decade about the possibility to adopt the cloud paradigm [24], or to perform an integration or a full migration into the cloud [33] - [39], involving and using many concepts from Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 Sajid et al [34] classify and rank the best practices and recommendations for cloud adoption. Among the recommendations made, they discuss network security best practices such as network segregation, traffic analysis and intrusion detection, logging of all activities and components within the SCADA, continuous and prompt updating the software and configurations, plus different types of security verifications, audits and monitoring (addressing memory dumps, file integrity, malicious code or components, etc.…”

“…Marian et al [39] Investigate and propose the design of a multitenant cloud-based paradigm for a SCADA MTU. Extensions of DNP3 protocol to include end-to-end authentication (through digital signatures) are also proposed.…”

“…The third generation is aware of the security threats; its components can be internetworked, and in general, it does observe some open architecture and the constraints and advantages of an open interconnected system. The findings presented in this section are based on the previous work of the authors [39], [40]. In [39] we investigated the cloud-based paradigm for the MTU design, and the security characteristics offered by the DNP3 protocol.…”

“…The findings presented in this section are based on the previous work of the authors [39], [40]. In [39] we investigated the cloud-based paradigm for the MTU design, and the security characteristics offered by the DNP3 protocol. In [40] we analyzed several storage systems (relational and non-relational) that could support the multitenant approach for a cloud-based SCADA architecture and proposed an experimental RTU architecture.…”