TY - GEN
T1 - Practical Implementation of APTs on PTP Time Synchronisation Networks
AU - Alghamdi, Waleed
AU - Schukat, Michael
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 IEEE.
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - The Precision Time Protocol is essential for many time-sensitive and time-aware applications. However, it was never designed for security, and despite various approaches to harden this protocol against manipulation, it is still prone to cyber-attacks. Here Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) are of particular concern, as they may stealthily and over extended periods of time manipulate computer clocks that rely on the accurate functioning of this protocol. Simulating such attacks is difficult, as it requires firmware manipulation of network and PTP infrastructure components. Therefore, this paper proposes and demonstrates a programmable Man-in-the-Middle (pMitM) and a programmable injector (pInj) device that allow the implementation of a variety of attacks, enabling security researchers to quantify the impact of APTs on time synchronisation.
AB - The Precision Time Protocol is essential for many time-sensitive and time-aware applications. However, it was never designed for security, and despite various approaches to harden this protocol against manipulation, it is still prone to cyber-attacks. Here Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) are of particular concern, as they may stealthily and over extended periods of time manipulate computer clocks that rely on the accurate functioning of this protocol. Simulating such attacks is difficult, as it requires firmware manipulation of network and PTP infrastructure components. Therefore, this paper proposes and demonstrates a programmable Man-in-the-Middle (pMitM) and a programmable injector (pInj) device that allow the implementation of a variety of attacks, enabling security researchers to quantify the impact of APTs on time synchronisation.
KW - APT
KW - IEEE 1588
KW - PTP
KW - cyber-security
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092713535&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ISSC49989.2020.9180157
DO - 10.1109/ISSC49989.2020.9180157
M3 - Conference Publication
T3 - 2020 31st Irish Signals and Systems Conference, ISSC 2020
BT - 2020 31st Irish Signals and Systems Conference, ISSC 2020
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 31st Irish Signals and Systems Conference, ISSC 2020
Y2 - 11 June 2020 through 12 June 2020
ER -