Virtual ICS test bed

Abstract

<p>Many organizations utilize Building Automation Systems (BAS) to ensure that all the systems in the building are functioning properly, for example their Heating, Ventilation and Air conditioning (HVAC) systems. More advanced versions of these systems, known as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems have been architected to monitor intricate industrial processes and critical energy systems. While some security standards, such as NIST, have been developed, both BAS and SCADA systems are vulnerable to being compromised, especially if they have been networked through the Internet. Compounding the challenge, most of these Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are proprietary, which translates into organizations being unable to test their vulnerability for themselves.</p> <p>The objective of this project was to construct a high-fidelity model of a complex Industrial Control System based on the system currently in place at Iowa State University. This would allow Iowa State an opportunity to test the fortitude of their industrial systems. This project, therefore, was designed to create a functioning virtual model of the systems within two buildings at Iowa State University. Additional constraints on this effort included working within the existing ISERink environment and utilization of OpenPLC, the only known open source PLC tool available at this time.</p> <p>This project successfully created a fully functional virtual model, including:</p> <p>• Identification and selection of tools (Modbus Master Simulator and ScadaBR)</p> <p>• Configuration of tools</p> <p>• Integration of tools</p> <p>• Creation of a test data set</p> <p>• Connections among the data</p> <p>• Generation of alerts for centralized monitoring</p> <p>• System testing</p>