Incorporating Cyber Threat Intelligence into Complex Cyber-Physical Systems: A STIX Model for Active Buildings

Active buildings can be briefly described as smart buildings with distributed and renewable energy resources able to energise other premises in their neighbourhood. As their energy capacity is significant, they can provide ancillary services to the traditional power grid. As such, they can be a wort...

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Main Authors: Ricardo M. Czekster, Roberto Metere, Charles Morisset
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-05-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/10/5005
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author Ricardo M. Czekster
Roberto Metere
Charles Morisset
author_facet Ricardo M. Czekster
Roberto Metere
Charles Morisset
author_sort Ricardo M. Czekster
collection DOAJ
description Active buildings can be briefly described as smart buildings with distributed and renewable energy resources able to energise other premises in their neighbourhood. As their energy capacity is significant, they can provide ancillary services to the traditional power grid. As such, they can be a worthy target of cyber-attacks potentially more devastating than if targeting traditional smart buildings. Furthermore, to handshake energy transfers, they need additional communications that add up to their attack surface. In such a context, security analysis would benefit from collection of cyber threat intelligence (CTI). To facilitate the analysis, we provide a base active building model in STIX in the tool cyberaCTIve that handles complex models. Active buildings are expected to implement standard network security measures, such as intrusion-detection systems. However, to timely respond to incidents, real-time detection should promptly update CTI, as it would significantly speed up the understanding of the nature of incidents and, as such, allow for a more effective response. To fill this gap, we propose an extension to the tool cyberaCTIve with a web service able to accept (incursion) feeds in real-time and apply the necessary modifications to a STIX model of interest.
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spelling doaj.art-7307de02ab994f43af6fe4269cbe5c0e2023-11-23T09:56:21ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-05-011210500510.3390/app12105005Incorporating Cyber Threat Intelligence into Complex Cyber-Physical Systems: A STIX Model for Active BuildingsRicardo M. Czekster0Roberto Metere1Charles Morisset2School of Informatics and Digital Engineering, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UKSchool of Computing, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UKSchool of Computing, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UKActive buildings can be briefly described as smart buildings with distributed and renewable energy resources able to energise other premises in their neighbourhood. As their energy capacity is significant, they can provide ancillary services to the traditional power grid. As such, they can be a worthy target of cyber-attacks potentially more devastating than if targeting traditional smart buildings. Furthermore, to handshake energy transfers, they need additional communications that add up to their attack surface. In such a context, security analysis would benefit from collection of cyber threat intelligence (CTI). To facilitate the analysis, we provide a base active building model in STIX in the tool cyberaCTIve that handles complex models. Active buildings are expected to implement standard network security measures, such as intrusion-detection systems. However, to timely respond to incidents, real-time detection should promptly update CTI, as it would significantly speed up the understanding of the nature of incidents and, as such, allow for a more effective response. To fill this gap, we propose an extension to the tool cyberaCTIve with a web service able to accept (incursion) feeds in real-time and apply the necessary modifications to a STIX model of interest.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/10/5005cyber threat intelligencesituational awarenessstructured cyber-attack representationscyber-securitysmart gridcyber-physical systems
spellingShingle Ricardo M. Czekster
Roberto Metere
Charles Morisset
Incorporating Cyber Threat Intelligence into Complex Cyber-Physical Systems: A STIX Model for Active Buildings
Applied Sciences
cyber threat intelligence
situational awareness
structured cyber-attack representations
cyber-security
smart grid
cyber-physical systems
title Incorporating Cyber Threat Intelligence into Complex Cyber-Physical Systems: A STIX Model for Active Buildings
title_full Incorporating Cyber Threat Intelligence into Complex Cyber-Physical Systems: A STIX Model for Active Buildings
title_fullStr Incorporating Cyber Threat Intelligence into Complex Cyber-Physical Systems: A STIX Model for Active Buildings
title_full_unstemmed Incorporating Cyber Threat Intelligence into Complex Cyber-Physical Systems: A STIX Model for Active Buildings
title_short Incorporating Cyber Threat Intelligence into Complex Cyber-Physical Systems: A STIX Model for Active Buildings
title_sort incorporating cyber threat intelligence into complex cyber physical systems a stix model for active buildings
topic cyber threat intelligence
situational awareness
structured cyber-attack representations
cyber-security
smart grid
cyber-physical systems
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/10/5005
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AT robertometere incorporatingcyberthreatintelligenceintocomplexcyberphysicalsystemsastixmodelforactivebuildings
AT charlesmorisset incorporatingcyberthreatintelligenceintocomplexcyberphysicalsystemsastixmodelforactivebuildings