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Advanced Persistent Threats and Zero-Day Exploits in Industrial Internet of Things

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Abstract

Manufacturing industry, electricity networks, supply chain, food production and water treatment plants have been heavily depended on Industrial Automation and Control (IAC) Systems. Integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) played a significant role in the evolution of these systems. New emerging trends and technologies, such as Internet-of-Things (IoT) interact with traditional, isolated IAC systems. Sectors such as manufacturing, electric grids, pharmaceuticals, and water treatment facilities incorporate part of these “smart” technologies in order to increase efficiency, performance and reduce production costs. But despite of its benefits, interconnectivity between smart and legacy IAC systems also creates complex interdependencies, which in turn, make imperative the need for more safety and security countermeasures. This rapid evolution has also affected greatly the threat landscape. In order to comprehend this radical change we present and analyze recent, well documented attacks that target mission critical IAC systems, which incorporate Industrial IoT technologies. In particular, we focus on highly profiled, sophisticated attacks against interconnected automation and monitoring field devices, related software platforms and systems (e.g., Programmable Logical Controllers – PLCs, industrial robots) installed on industrial facilities and smart grid generation, transmission and distribution networks and systems.

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Correspondence to Ioannis Stellios .

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Stellios, I., Kotzanikolaou, P., Psarakis, M. (2019). Advanced Persistent Threats and Zero-Day Exploits in Industrial Internet of Things. In: Alcaraz, C. (eds) Security and Privacy Trends in the Industrial Internet of Things. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12330-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12330-7_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12329-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12330-7

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