Cyber training, testing, and mission rehearsal for Operational Technology (OT) is quite different than traditional IT because physical representations of an industrial process (known as a cyber-physical interface) are needed to convey the status of an Industrial Control System (ICS). Cyber-physical interfaces are quite challenging for organizations to build. Industrial equipment is expensive and requires a lot of floor space, demanding high costs for the initial build and reoccurring costs associated with leased facilities. Large cyber-physical interfaces demand dedicated workers to maintain them and require routine and corrective maintenance. High-energy systems present significant safety challenges. Users often need to travel to the site of the cyber-physical interface, increasing travel costs and presenting roadblocks when travel is restricted because of pandemic concerns.
These challenges can be addressed by offering cybersecurity researchers and trainees with a completely software-based cyber-physical interface that provides a visualization of physical process and reacts in a realistic manner to changes in the ICS/SCADA system.
A software-based cyber-physical interface is a scalable, modular platform that offers users the ability to model environments as small or as large as they desire. Training or testing audiences can be anywhere in the world, remotely connected with the ICS/SCADA environment and seeing the impact of cyber effects against cyber-physical systems using a web-based video feed served by the software. Software-based cyber-physical interfaces provide an engaging, immersive experience for the user through vivid and realistic representations of physical systems that can be delivered through 3D video or through AR/VR headsets. The software-based nature of the system allows organizations to deliver cost-effective remote training, testing, or mission rehearsals when travel is restricted by COVID-19.
Keywords
3D,AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY (AR/VR),CYBER,GAME TECHNOLOGY,TRAINING
Additional Keywords
ICS/SCADA, ICS, Operational Technology, SCADA, IoT