Reliability of a Contamination-Detection Sensor Network in Water Distribution Systems during a Cyber-Physical Attack
The vastness of water distribution systems (WDS) makes them vulnerable to exposure to different types of accidental/intentional contamination. Although most such contamination events that occurred in the recent past were accidental, criminal intent was involved in a few. Considering the accessibilit...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/22/3669 |
| _version_ | 1797463765237628928 |
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| author | Gopinathan R. Abhijith Elad Salomons Avi Ostfeld |
| author_facet | Gopinathan R. Abhijith Elad Salomons Avi Ostfeld |
| author_sort | Gopinathan R. Abhijith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The vastness of water distribution systems (WDS) makes them vulnerable to exposure to different types of accidental/intentional contamination. Although most such contamination events that occurred in the recent past were accidental, criminal intent was involved in a few. Considering the accessibility of WDS and the potentially harmful outcomes of drinking-water contamination, online water-quality monitoring sensors are typically positioned in selected locations throughout WDS as a preventive strategy. These sensors, once positioned, communicate over a cyber-infrastructure layer and are liable to cyber-physical attacks—the sensor and/or its communication system becoming compromised or the sensor network becoming malfunctioned such that part of its components is deactivated. However, the sensor network placement state-of-the-art has thus far overlooked these cyber-physical attack scenarios. The current study attempts to overcome this limitation in the state-of-the-art by developing and demonstrating a methodology for evaluating the impact of a cyber-physical attack on a sensor network, compromising its functionality partially. Our proof-of-concept, using a simple network and a straightforward cyber-physical attack scenario, has revealed the vast potential of examining the performance of sensor networks under accidental/intentional malfunctioning and providing valuable information for decision makers in water utilities and regulators. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:56:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8ab41ea1748c4e369e296f191c4770ad |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:56:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-8ab41ea1748c4e369e296f191c4770ad2023-11-24T10:21:02ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412022-11-011422366910.3390/w14223669Reliability of a Contamination-Detection Sensor Network in Water Distribution Systems during a Cyber-Physical AttackGopinathan R. Abhijith0Elad Salomons1Avi Ostfeld2Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, Haifa 32000, IsraelFaculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, Haifa 32000, IsraelFaculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, Haifa 32000, IsraelThe vastness of water distribution systems (WDS) makes them vulnerable to exposure to different types of accidental/intentional contamination. Although most such contamination events that occurred in the recent past were accidental, criminal intent was involved in a few. Considering the accessibility of WDS and the potentially harmful outcomes of drinking-water contamination, online water-quality monitoring sensors are typically positioned in selected locations throughout WDS as a preventive strategy. These sensors, once positioned, communicate over a cyber-infrastructure layer and are liable to cyber-physical attacks—the sensor and/or its communication system becoming compromised or the sensor network becoming malfunctioned such that part of its components is deactivated. However, the sensor network placement state-of-the-art has thus far overlooked these cyber-physical attack scenarios. The current study attempts to overcome this limitation in the state-of-the-art by developing and demonstrating a methodology for evaluating the impact of a cyber-physical attack on a sensor network, compromising its functionality partially. Our proof-of-concept, using a simple network and a straightforward cyber-physical attack scenario, has revealed the vast potential of examining the performance of sensor networks under accidental/intentional malfunctioning and providing valuable information for decision makers in water utilities and regulators.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/22/3669water qualitysensor placementwater distribution systemscyber-physical attacks |
| spellingShingle | Gopinathan R. Abhijith Elad Salomons Avi Ostfeld Reliability of a Contamination-Detection Sensor Network in Water Distribution Systems during a Cyber-Physical Attack Water water quality sensor placement water distribution systems cyber-physical attacks |
| title | Reliability of a Contamination-Detection Sensor Network in Water Distribution Systems during a Cyber-Physical Attack |
| title_full | Reliability of a Contamination-Detection Sensor Network in Water Distribution Systems during a Cyber-Physical Attack |
| title_fullStr | Reliability of a Contamination-Detection Sensor Network in Water Distribution Systems during a Cyber-Physical Attack |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reliability of a Contamination-Detection Sensor Network in Water Distribution Systems during a Cyber-Physical Attack |
| title_short | Reliability of a Contamination-Detection Sensor Network in Water Distribution Systems during a Cyber-Physical Attack |
| title_sort | reliability of a contamination detection sensor network in water distribution systems during a cyber physical attack |
| topic | water quality sensor placement water distribution systems cyber-physical attacks |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/22/3669 |
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