Restricted Authentication and Encryption for Cyber-physical Systems
Michael S. Kirkpatrick, Elisa Bertino, Frederick T. Sheldon · 2009
Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are characterized by the close linkage of computational resources and physical devices. These systems can be deployed in a number of critical infrastructure settings. As a result, the security requirements of CPS are different than traditional computing architectures. For example, critical functions must be identified and isolated from interference by other functions. Similarly, lightweight schemes may be required, as CPS can include devices with limited computing power. One approach that offers promise for CPS security is the use of lightweight, hardware-based authentication. Specifically, we consider the use of Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) to bind an access request to specific hardware with device-specific keys. PUFs are implemented in hardware, such as SRAM, and can be used to uniquely identify the device. This technology could be used in CPS to ensure locationbased access control and encryption, both of which would be desirable for CPS implementations. The submitted manuscript has been authored by a contractor of the U.S. Government under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Accordingly, the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, royaltyfree license to publish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. 1