Asset Management Method of Industrial IoT Systems for Cyber-Security Countermeasures

Abstract

Cyber-security countermeasures are important for IIoT (industrial Internet of things) systems in which IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology) are integrated. The appropriate asset management is the key to creating strong security systems to protect from various cyber threats. However, the timely and coherent asset management methods used for conventional IT systems are difficult to be implemented for IIoT systems. This is because these systems are composed of various network protocols, various devices, and open technologies. Besides, it is necessary to guarantee reliable and real-time control and save CPU and memory usage for legacy OT devices. In this study, therefore, (1) we model various asset configurations for IIoT systems and design a data structure based on SCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol). (2) We design the functions to automatically acquire the detailed information from edge devices by “asset configuration management agent”, which ensures a low processing load. (3) We implement the proposed asset management system to real edge devices and evaluate the functions. Our contribution is to automate the asset management method that is valid for the cyber security countermeasures in the IIoT systems.

Internet of Things in Industry: Research Profiling, Application, Challenges and Opportunities—A Review

“…These include, for example, commonly used smartphones, intelligent household appliances and electronics, heating and lighting systems that can be operated remotely using appropriate applications, but also a machine park whose devices connected to the network allow it to be managed from anywhere in the plant and/or outside of it [25][26][27]. There are 5 billion IoT devices worldwide and forecasts show that this will reach 29 billion by 2022 [24] or 9.27 billion according to Matsumoto et al [28].…”

“…To ensure that real-time communication and control processes (10-100 ms cycle duration) are not disrupted, security countermeasures are required in IoT. However, solutions used in IT systems such as malware detection software are insufficient [28]. In typical IIoT, symmetric-key cryptography can provide a lightweight solution [83].…”

“…As different control systems used in IoT need to operate 24 h a day, all year round, and have a service life of 5-10 years, security updates become a challenge. They cannot cause system malfunctions, and unlike in IT systems, updates cannot result in the system being stopped and restarted [28].…”

IoT Security Review: A Case Study of IIoT, IoV, and Smart Home

“…These vulnerabilities directly connect to the network and provide a breach for a saboteur to gain easy access to the entire system. IIoT systems usually combine information technology with operational technology which adds another layer of potential threats [12,13].…”

“…In light of the above analysis, there are many types of security researches in the IoT field, relevant problems are complex, and there are relatively few systematic summaries in this field [12]. Therefore, this paper focuses on the three fields of IIoT, IoV, and smart home and focuses on IoT in various scenarios and security issues.…”