Lightweight intrusion detection for resource-constrained embedded control systems

Abstract

Securing embedded control systems presents a unique challenge. In addition to the resource restrictions inherent to embedded devices, embedded control systems must accommodate strict, non-negotiable timing requirements, and their massive scale greatly increases other costs such as power consumption. These constraints render conventional host-based intrusion detection – using a hypervisor to create a safe environment under which a monitoring entity can operate – costly and impractical. This paper describes the design and implementation of Autoscopy, an experimental host-based intrusion detection system that operates from within the kernel and leverages its built-in tracing framework to identify control flow anomalies that are often caused by rootkits hijacking kernel hooks. Experimental tests demonstrate that Autoscopy can detect representative control flow hijacking techniques while maintaining a low performance overhead.