Insecure by Design: Using Human Interface Devices to exploit SCADA systems

Modern Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems which are used by the electric utility industry to monitor and control electric power generation, transmission and distribution, are recognized today as critical components of the electric power delivery infrastructure. SCADA systems are large, complex and incorporate increasingly large numbers of widely distributed components. Cyber-attacks usually target valuable infrastructures assets, taking advantage of architectural/technical vulnerabilities or even weaknesses in the defense systems. Even though novel intrusion detection systems are being implemented and used for defending cyber-attacks certain vulnerabilities of SCADA systems can still be exploited. In this article we present an attack scenario based on a Human Interface Device (HID) device which is used as a means of communication/exploitation tool to compromise SCADA systems. The attack, which is a normal series of commands that are sent from the HID to the PLC cannot be detected through current intrusion detection mechanisms.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Grigoris Tzokatziou

Leandros Maglaras

Helge Janicke

Conference

Publication date: September 2015

Publication date (Print): September 2015

Pages: 103-106

Affiliations

[0001]School of Computer Science and Informatics

De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/ICS2015.13

SO-VID: 725203ff-8d91-4a27-8e58-394f9e80fc00

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: 3rd International Symposium for ICS & SCADA Cyber Security Research 2015 (ICS-CSR 2015)

Conference acronym: ICS-CSR

Conference number: 3

Conference location: Germany

Conference date: 17 - 18 September 2015

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Industrial Control System & SCADA Cyber Security Research (ICS-CSR)

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/ICS2015.13

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

V. M IgureA. L SeanD. W Ronald 2006 Security issues in SCADA networks Comput. Secur 25 7 498 506
M RobinsonJ KevinJ Helge 2015 Cyber warfare: Issues and challenges Comput. Secur 49 70 94
A Carcano 2008 SCADA malware: A proof of concept Third International Workshop on Critical Information Infrastructure Security Berlin, Germany Springer
W Ashford 2013 Oct 18 US Researchers find 25 security vulnerabilities in SCADA systems ComputerWeekly.com. Available from http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240207488/ USresearchers-find-25-security-vulnerabilities-inSCADA-systems
A. M LeandrosJ JianminJ. C Tiago 2014 Integrated OCSVM Mechanism for intrusion detection in SCADA systems Electron. Lett 50 25 1935 1936
J. C Tiago 2014 A distributed IDS for industrial control systems Int. J. Cyber Warfare and Terrorism (IJCWT) 4 2 1 22
P. M Gil 2013 RepCIDN: A reputation-based collaborative intrusion detection network to lessen the impact of malicious alarms J. Netw. Syst. 730 Manage, 21 1 128 167
A Crenshaw 2011 Plug and prey: Malicious USB devices Available from http://www.irongeek. com/downloads/Malicious%20USB%20Devices.pdf
H Khurana 2010 Smart-grid security issues IEEE Security & Privacy 8 1 81 85

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] V. M IgureA. L SeanD. W Ronald 2006 Security issues in SCADA networks Comput. Secur 25 7 498 506

[2] M RobinsonJ KevinJ Helge 2015 Cyber warfare: Issues and challenges Comput. Secur 49 70 94

[3] A Carcano 2008 SCADA malware: A proof of concept Third International Workshop on Critical Information Infrastructure Security Berlin, Germany Springer

[4] W Ashford 2013 Oct 18 US Researchers find 25 security vulnerabilities in SCADA systems ComputerWeekly.com. Available from http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240207488/ USresearchers-find-25-security-vulnerabilities-inSCADA-systems

[5] A. M LeandrosJ JianminJ. C Tiago 2014 Integrated OCSVM Mechanism for intrusion detection in SCADA systems Electron. Lett 50 25 1935 1936

[6] J. C Tiago 2014 A distributed IDS for industrial control systems Int. J. Cyber Warfare and Terrorism (IJCWT) 4 2 1 22

[7] P. M Gil 2013 RepCIDN: A reputation-based collaborative intrusion detection network to lessen the impact of malicious alarms J. Netw. Syst. 730 Manage, 21 1 128 167

[8] A Crenshaw 2011 Plug and prey: Malicious USB devices Available from http://www.irongeek. com/downloads/Malicious%20USB%20Devices.pdf

[9] H Khurana 2010 Smart-grid security issues IEEE Security & Privacy 8 1 81 85

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