Quality Control Tools for Cyber-Physical Security of Production Systems

With recent advancements in computer and network technologies, cyber-physical systems have become more susceptible to cyber-attacks; and production systems are no exception. Unlike traditional Information Technology (IT) systems, cyber-physical systems are not limited to attacks aimed at Intellectual Property (IP) theft, but also include attacks that maliciously affect the physical world. In manufacturing, such cyber-physical attacks can destroy equipment, force dimensional product changes, alter a product's mechanical characteristics, or endanger human lives.

The manufacturing industry often relies on modern Quality Control (QC) tools to protect against quality losses, such as those that can occur from an attack. However, cyber-physical attacks can still be designed to avoid detection by traditional QC methods, which suggests a strong need for new and more robust QC tools. Such new tools should be able to prevent, or at least minimize, the effects of cyber-physical attacks on production systems. Unfortunately, little to no research has been done on using QC tools for cyber-physical security of production systems.

Hence, the overarching goal of this work is to allow QC systems to be designed and used effectively as a second line of defense, when traditional cyber-security techniques fail and the production system is already breached. To this end, this work focuses on: 1) understanding the role of QC systems in cyber-physical attacks within manufacturing through developing a taxonomy encompassing the different layers involved; 2) identifying existing weaknesses in QC tools and exploring the effects of exploiting them by cyber-physical attacks; and 3) proposing more effective QC tools that can overcome existing weaknesses by introducing randomness to the tools, for better security against cyber-physical attacks in manufacturing.