Assessing the Security of OPC UA Deployments

Roepert, Linus; Dahlmanns, Markus; Fink, Ina Berenice; Pennekamp, Jan; Henze, Martin

doi:10.15496/publikation-41813

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…OPC UA is the prime candidate to realize standardized and secure industrial communication for an increasing industrial digitalization [55]. In this paper, we study whether the general security of OPC UA's design [19] leads to secure Internet-facing deployments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Easing the Conscience with OPC UA

Dahlmanns

Lohmöller

Fink

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the ACM Internet Measurement Conference

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Due to increasing digitalization, formerly isolated industrial networks, e.g., for factory and process automation, move closer and closer to the Internet, mandating secure communication. However, securely setting up OPC UA, the prime candidate for secure industrial communication, is challenging due to a large variety of insecure options. To study whether Internet-facing OPC UA appliances are configured securely, we actively scan the IPv4 address space for publicly reachable OPC UA systems and assess the security of their configurations. We observe problematic security configurations such as missing access control (on 24% of hosts), disabled security functionality (24%), or use of deprecated cryptographic primitives (25%) on in total 92% of the reachable deployments. Furthermore, we discover several hundred devices in multiple autonomous systems sharing the same security certificate, opening the door for impersonation attacks. Overall, in this paper, we highlight commonly found security misconfigurations and underline the importance of appropriate configuration for security-featuring protocols.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nawrocki et al observe communication over legacy industrial protocols on IXP level and show that 96% of messages originate from industrial devices [45], emphasizing the need for secure industrial communication. Assessment guidelines and tools assist operators in correctly configuring secure industrial protocols such as OPC UA [30,52,55].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Easing the Conscience with OPC UA

Dahlmanns

Lohmöller

Fink

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the ACM Internet Measurement Conference

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“…Before integrating new devices into the network or deploying updates to devices, static firmware analysis [80] can be used to detect susceptibility to vulnerabilities as well as malware and default credentials contained in a firmware image. Following a different direction, security assessments allow to additionally detect insecure configurations and test for vulnerabilities at runtime [81][82][83]. Such approaches also show promising benefits for device and application security in power grids [84,85].…”

Section: Device and Application Securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cybersecurity in Power Grids: Challenges and Opportunities

Krause,

Ernst,

Klaer

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Increasing volatilities within power transmission and distribution force power grid operators to amplify their use of communication infrastructure to monitor and control their grid. The resulting increase in communication creates a larger attack surface for malicious actors. Indeed, cyber attacks on power grids have already succeeded in causing temporary, large-scale blackouts in the recent past.In this paper, we analyze the communication infrastructure of power grids to derive resulting fundamental challenges of power grids with respect to cybersecurity. Based on these challenges, we identify a broad set of resulting attack vectors and attack scenarios that threaten the security of power grids. To address these challenges, we propose to rely on a defense-in-depth strategy, which encompasses measures for (i) device and application security, (ii) network security, (iii) physical security, as well as (iv) policies, procedures, and awareness. For each of these categories, we distill and discuss a comprehensive set of state-of-the art approaches, and identify further opportunities to strengthen cybersecurity in interconnected power grids.

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Cybersecurity in Power Grids: Challenges and Opportunities

Krause

Ernst

Klaer

et al. 2021

Sensors

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Increasing volatilities within power transmission and distribution force power grid operators to amplify their use of communication infrastructure to monitor and control their grid. The resulting increase in communication creates a larger attack surface for malicious actors. Indeed, cyber attacks on power grids have already succeeded in causing temporary, large-scale blackouts in the recent past. In this paper, we analyze the communication infrastructure of power grids to derive resulting fundamental challenges of power grids with respect to cybersecurity. Based on these challenges, we identify a broad set of resulting attack vectors and attack scenarios that threaten the security of power grids. To address these challenges, we propose to rely on a defense-in-depth strategy, which encompasses measures for (i) device and application security, (ii) network security, and (iii) physical security, as well as (iv) policies, procedures, and awareness. For each of these categories, we distill and discuss a comprehensive set of state-of-the art approaches, as well as identify further opportunities to strengthen cybersecurity in interconnected power grids.

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Assessing the Security of OPC UA Deployments

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

Easing the Conscience with OPC UA

Easing the Conscience with OPC UA

Cybersecurity in Power Grids: Challenges and Opportunities

Cybersecurity in Power Grids: Challenges and Opportunities

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