a cryptographic toolbox for feedback control systems

Abstract

Feedback control systems consist of components such as sensory systems, state estimators, controllers, and actuators. By transmitting signals between these components across insecure transmission channels, feedback control systems become vulnerable to cyber-physical attacks. For example, passive eavesdropping attacks may result in a leak of confidential system and control parameters. Active deception attacks may manipulate the behavior of the state estimators, controllers, and actuators through the injection of spoofed data. To prevent such attacks, we must ensure that the transmitted signals remain confidential across the transmission channels, and that spoofed data is not allowed to enter the feedback control system. We can achieve both these goals by using cryptographic tools. By encrypting the signals, we achieve confidential signal transmission. By applying message authentication codes (MACs), we assert the authenticity of the data before allowing it to enter the components of the feedback control system. In this paper, a toolbox containing implementations of state-of-the-art high-performance algorithms such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), the AEGIS stream cipher, the Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC), and the stream ciphers from the eSTREAM portfolio, is introduced. It is shown how the algorithm implementations can be used to ensure secure signal transmission between the components of the feedback control system, and general guidelines that the users must adhere to for safe operation are provided.