The Vulnerability of the Production Line Using Industrial IoT Systems under DDoS Attack

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are not only finding increasing use in ordinary households, but they have also become a key element for the Industry 4.0 concept. The implementation of industrial IoT devices into production streamlines the production process and reduces production costs. On the other hand, connected IoT devices bring new security risks to production and expose an industrial environment to new types of attacks. The article analyzes the vulnerability of the production line with implemented industrial IoT devices with consideration of a possible Distributed Denial-of-service (DDoS) attack led by attackers from the internet. Various types of DDoS attacks abusing the presence of IoT devices in the system were performed on an automated production line implementing sorting, preparation, and dosing of bulk and liquid materials for filling into containers. The leading attacks caused failure of the production line during the production, as well as the dysfunction of communication with IoT devices. The article also demonstrates the implementation of countermeasures against DDoS attacks and possible strategies to protect and mitigate such attacks on the production line.

The State of Cybersecurity in Smart Manufacturing Systems: A Systematic Review

“…Safety issues in Smart Manufacturing Systems -SMS primarily involve a structural-functional problem, considering that the current production line comprises legacy equipment and advanced technologies, which are added day after day to the plant, by necessity or natural evolution, without considering their structural and functional security differences, thus imposing little-known vulnerabilities, which can be exploited in the future by people, groups, or nations with specific purposes (Tuptuk & Hailes, 2018). In this sense, Horak et al (2021) reinforced that the concern with safety ends up being relegated to the background, precisely because of the very nature of manufacturing, which imposes a race for higher yields and productivity, where any stop for a restructuring would be equivalent to the loss of resources. However, the massive implementation of SMS, without first having the knowledge and correction of their vulnerabilities, could bring incalculable damage to the industry and even impact on national security issues for a country (Tuptuk & Hailes, 2018).…”

“…The confrontation of these security problems in SMS involves the approach of two great dimensionsthe physical and the logical which can be analyzed together or separately, with propositions of practical or conceptual applications. Horak et al (2021), Huraj et al (2021) and Wu et al (2020), respectively, a practical investigation of attacks on real production lines with an emphasis on the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices to prove their weaknesses; creating a communication map and preventing communication degradation from infected IoT devices at the switch level towards the production line; use of machine learning to detect and prevent intrusions; and a testbed to investigate cyber intrusions, validating countermeasures. Already Bracho et al (2018), Leander et al (2020), Kosmowski et al (2019), Kühnle et al (2017), Lopez et al (2017) and Zarreh et al (2019), designed a more conceptual analysis of security issues through statistical testing; formulating a list of access control requirements for an intelligent manufacturing system; use of risk charts to determine and verify the level of performance and integrity of security functions; categorization of anomalies and detection mechanisms; and unification into a common framework to help identify potential solutions.…”

Protocol-Based and Hybrid Access Control for the IoT: Approaches and Research Opportunities

“…Access control plays a vital role in securing resources from unauthorized access [86]. However, the need for access control in IoT is an emerging research area that needs more investigation to provide secure, scalable, lightweight, flexible, and trustworthy solutions [87][88][89]. Further, the flexibility in operation in different networks and operating systems are required for further improvement.…”

Analysis of Security Issues and Countermeasures for the Industrial Internet of Things

“…The IIoT is an integration of different technologies at scale, and therefore it is significant to capture various aspects from data processing to storage within the infrastructures. However, making a seamless integration between the various services coming from many devices and infrastructures is a challenging task [175]. Moreover, these control processes, monitoring, and management services create several security issues of privacy, identity, and trust.…”