Testbed Diversity as a Fundamental Principle for Effective ICS Security Research

The implementation of diversity in testbeds is essential to understanding and improving the security and resilience of Industrial Control Systems (ICS). Employing a wide spectrum of equipment, diverse networks, and business processes, as deployed in real-life infrastructures, is particularly difficult in experimental conditions. However, this level of diversity is key from a security perspective, as attackers can exploit system particularities and process intricacies to their advantage. This paper presents an ICS testbed with specific focus on infrastructure diversity, and end-to-end business process replication. These qualities are illustrated through a case study mapping data flow/processing, user interactions, and two example attack scenarios.