Securing Wireless Communication in Critical Infrastructure: Challenges and Opportunities

arXiv (Cornell University)

Abstract

Critical infrastructure constitutes the foundation of every society. While traditionally solely relying on dedicated cable-based communication, this infrastructure rapidly transforms to highly digitized and interconnected systems which increasingly rely on wireless communication. Besides providing tremendous benefits, especially affording the easy, cheap, and flexible interconnection of a large number of assets spread over larger geographic areas, wireless communication in critical infrastructure also raises unique security challenges. Most importantly, the shift from dedicated private wired networks to heterogeneous wireless communication over public and shared networks requires significantly more involved security measures. In this paper, we identify the most relevant challenges resulting from the use of wireless communication in critical infrastructure and use those to identify a comprehensive set of promising opportunities to preserve the high security standards of critical infrastructure even when switching from wired to wireless communication.

Authors 7

1. Jörn Bodenhausen Aachen Security and Privacy in Industrial Cooperation

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Security and Privacy in Industrial Cooperation , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany,

2. Christian Sorgatz

   Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics

   Affiliation as printed

   Cyber Analysis & Defense , Fraunhofer FKIE , Wachtberg , Germany,

3. Thomas Vogt Aachen Security and Privacy in Industrial Cooperation

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Security and Privacy in Industrial Cooperation , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany,

4. Kolja Grafflage
   Affiliation as printed

   ATS Elektronik GmbH , Wunstorf , Germany,

5. Sebastian Rötzel
6. Michael Rademacher

   Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics

   Affiliation as printed

   Cyber Analysis & Defense , Fraunhofer FKIE , Wachtberg , Germany,

7. Martin Henze Aachen Security and Privacy in Industrial Cooperation

   Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cyber Analysis & Defense , Fraunhofer FKIE , Wachtberg , Germany,

   Security and Privacy in Industrial Cooperation , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany,