The critical issue of cybersecurity within industrial control systems (ICSs) has taken on immense significance in the face of recent global tensions. Catastrophic events, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and persistent conflicts in the Middle East, have escalated the scope of cyber-attacks to include not only the directly involved parties but also their allies and supporters. These malevolent activities have severely impacted critical sectors like government agencies, medical institutions, financial institutions, and manufacturing supply chains. As a result, the consequential disruptions in social infrastructure have had devastating impacts on people’s lives, compelling nations and corporations to pay urgent attention to cyber-resilience.
Understanding the Importance of Cyber-Resilience in ICSs
Toshiba’s primary objective is to attain “cyber-resilience,” which involves preparing for incidents, minimizing their impact, rapidly recovering, and ensuring the continuity of business operations. Unlike conventional information systems where information leakage poses the greatest threat, ICSs used in social infrastructure and industrial plants necessitate distinct forms of cyber-resilience to ensure safety and prevent operational disruption. The recent history of cyber-attacks on ICSs underlines the gravity of the problem, with numerous incidents leading to massive consequences such as power outages, attempted contamination of water supplies, and the shutdown of production lines. These events have not only jeopardized public safety but have also inflicted substantial financial losses on businesses, thereby compromising their continuity.
One of the primary challenges facing the development of security technologies for ICSs lies in verifying their effectiveness without risking actual operational systems. In information systems, it’s usually feasible to apply security measures on real system environments or create equivalent test environments. However, ICSs, by their critical nature, require a cautious approach to avoid any risk that could impact real operations or endanger lives. Therefore, the development of effective security measures for ICSs mandates a different strategy—one that ensures comprehensive testing without real-world ramifications.
Challenges in Verifying Security Technologies for ICSs
The pivotal challenge in developing security technologies for industrial control systems is verifying their effectiveness without using actual operational systems, which is rarely viable. Unlike information systems where parts of actual system environments or test environments equivalent to real systems can be used for evaluation, ICSs necessitate a cautious approach. Their critical nature mandates avoiding any risk that could impact actual operations, people’s lives, or customer businesses.
To navigate this verification challenge, Toshiba has pioneered the development of emulation environments equivalent to real ICSs. Leveraging its extensive experience and expertise from supplying various ICSs to national governments and corporations, Toshiba has created these environments to specifically mirror real operational systems. Emulation environments, also known as ICS testbeds, facilitate the verification of ICS security-related products and services. Moreover, they support research and development of new technologies as well as the training of security personnel—all without any real-world impact.
The use of emulation environments holds profound potential for the security landscape of industrial control systems. These testbeds enable thorough testing and experimentation on security measures in a controlled, risk-free setting. By closely replicating real-world systems, they ensure that security measures are rigorously tested and fine-tuned before their deployment in actual operational environments, thus addressing a key impediment in the building of robust ICS security frameworks.
Emulation Environments for ICS Security Verification
Toshiba’s sophisticated emulation environments play a crucial role in technical verification projects aimed at enhancing ICS security monitoring services. They have established specialized testbed environments for four core fields: substation systems, thermal power generation systems, virtual power plants (VPPs), and water and sewage systems. These testbeds leverage software and hardware equivalent to those used in actual customer environments, allowing them to closely emulate real-world systems. This accurate emulation ensures that verification results are both precise and widely applicable, leading to more reliable security solutions.
Toshiba collaborates with prominent entities like the Control System Security Center (CSSC) and the Industrial Cyber Security Center of Excellence (ICSCoE) under the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA). These collaborations focus on enhancing the overall security of social infrastructure through comprehensive testing using ICS testbeds. The security measures and technologies are evaluated by teams divided into attack and defense squads—the red team and the blue team. The red team is tasked with simulating potential attack vectors while the blue team focuses on devising and verifying strategies for detecting, mitigating, and recovering from these simulated attacks.
The strategic use of emulation environments allows for an in-depth analysis of both the strengths and weaknesses of the security measures. This not only serves to improve current technologies but also stimulates the development of innovative solutions that can effectively counteract evolving cyber threats. Toshiba’s approach to establishing robust emulation environments exemplifies its commitment to enhancing the cyber-resilience of ICSs, ensuring a proactive defense against potential cyber-attacks.
The Role of the Red Team in Cyber-Attack Emulation
The red team, a crucial component of Toshiba’s cyber-resilience strategy, is pivotal in understanding and preparing for potential attack vectors. In the current cyber landscape, attackers often employ a sequence of multiple attacks called a cyber kill chain to reach their objectives, such as information theft or denial of service (DoS). The red team, comprising researchers and engineers with deep knowledge of recent cyber-attack trends and ICS security, designs and validates attack scenarios based on their insights. These scenarios represent a continuum of attack methods and paths, tracing the progression from the initial entry point to the eventual impact.
To efficiently manage the risk assessments for Toshiba products and systems, the red team is developing cutting-edge methodologies for automated attack path planning and validation. By drawing on standard protocols and the red team’s expertise, Toshiba aims to automatically generate attack scenarios based on system configuration and vulnerability data. Where feasible, the execution of these scenarios will also be automated, forming a key part of their research into “cyber-attack emulation technologies.”
The use of automated attack path planning and validation introduces a level of precision and thoroughness that manual evaluation cannot achieve. It enables continuous and consistent testing, identifies potential vulnerabilities swiftly, and ensures that all possible attack vectors are considered. This systematic approach undeniably reinforces Toshiba’s overarching goal of achieving unparalleled cyber-resilience.
The Blue Team’s Strategy for Defense and Recovery
In complement to the red team’s efforts, the blue team is entrusted with the responsibility of devising and corroborating strategies for detecting, mitigating, and recovering from the attacks simulated by the red team. Their strategy doesn’t solely focus on defending ICSs from cyber-attacks; it also ensures that these defensive measures and incident responses do not disrupt ICS operations or compromise safety. The blue team also scrutinizes the potential consequences of various incident responses on ICS operation and safety, such as network disconnections.
The blue team’s approach includes the integration and testing of Toshiba security solutions, as well as advanced solutions from startups, within the ICS testbeds. For instance, they rigorously assess intrusion detection systems (IDS) by configuring rules tailored to accurately detect cyber-attacks. These solutions are stress-tested within the testbed environment by engineering deliberate attacks to ensure they fulfill their intended security objectives before their eventual commercial deployment.
The dynamic interplay between the red and blue teams highlights Toshiba’s holistic strategy towards developing resilient ICS security solutions. By fostering a cycle of continuous testing, validation, and improvement within a controlled environment, Toshiba ensures that its security measures are robust and dependable. This methodology not only enhances the practical application of security solutions but also reinforces the preparedness of ICSs against the unpredictable and evolving nature of cyber threats.
Collaborative Efforts and Continuous Improvement
The critical issue of cybersecurity within industrial control systems (ICSs) has gained immense importance in light of recent global tensions. Catastrophic events, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, have broadened the reach of cyber-attacks. These attacks now target not only the directly involved parties but also their allies and supporters. Such malevolent activities have significantly affected essential sectors like government agencies, medical institutions, financial services, and manufacturing supply chains. The resulting disruptions in social infrastructure have severely impacted people’s lives.
This alarming trend has compelled nations and corporations to focus urgently on bolstering their cyber-resilience. Increasing the security of ICSs has become a top priority, as these systems are crucial for maintaining the functionality of critical infrastructure. By implementing robust cybersecurity measures, organizations can protect themselves against the growing threat of cyber-attacks and ensure the stability of essential services.
The stakes are high, and the consequences of inadequate cybersecurity are far-reaching. With the interconnectedness of today’s digital landscape, a single breach can ripple across multiple industries, causing widespread damage. Therefore, by taking proactive steps to enhance cybersecurity, nations and corporations can mitigate the risks and safeguard their infrastructure against potential threats.