Implementing OpenPLCs into a Cyber Defense Competition
Dr. Doug Jacobson & Dr. Julie Rursch - Faculty Advisors
May 18-16
Matthew McGill, Nick Springer, Val Chapman, Josh Przybyszewski, Joseph Young, Liam Briggs, Brennen Ferguson
May 18-16
Matthew McGill, Nick Springer, Val Chapman, Josh Przybyszewski, Joseph Young, Liam Briggs, Brennen Ferguson
Our senior design project focuses on researching the possibility of adding PLCs to Iowa State's Cyber Defense Competitions. A CDC is a security-based competition put on by Iowa State students that is an interactive way for students to practically learn how to secure systems and protect them from outside attack. Each competition centers around a scenario that defines a purpose for the competition, and is a fun and interactive way to engage students. Currently, many of these scenarios are about theoretical situations involving completely virtualized systems, which doesn't allow for much variation from one CDC to the next. Our project's goal is to have a competition scenario revolve around a cyber-physical system, primarily through the integration of PLCs and other physical devices. A PLC is a programmable logic controller that helps to determine a machine's output from multiple different inputs. They are used heavily in the manufacturing industry to control how multiple systems work together and keep devices communicating reliably. The goal then with out project is to have a CDC scenario centered on a cyber-physical system with PLCs, through the use and implementation of the OpenPLC project. This adds an extra element of intensity and fun to CDCs, as students will be presented with new challenges and be forced to figure out ways to not only protect web servers and provide secure domain control, but also secure physical systems, that if hacked into, can have disastrous effects on a business's operation.
The OpenPLC project is a completely open sourced project that provides a standard for the logic that makes using PLCs possible. It is a community effort that believes opening up the black-box of a PLC will create ample opportunities for people to discover the true potential of PLCs, and allow people to develop new technologies and share resources.
We plan to build our project on top of Factory I/O, a program capable of modeling complex manufacturing environments, and often used to simulate complex systems interacting with each other. We plan on using Factory I/O to develop a CDC scenario revolving around PLC logic. Students will have the opportunity to discover all of the vulnerabilities that will arise when interacting with these systems. We will build a network of servers within the ISEAGE environment (a virtualized playground that makes the CDCs possible), and intentionally leave vulnerabilities into web applications, domain services, PLC integration, etc. to usher in the next generation of CDC competitions and make interfacing with PLCs a reality.
The OpenPLC project is a completely open sourced project that provides a standard for the logic that makes using PLCs possible. It is a community effort that believes opening up the black-box of a PLC will create ample opportunities for people to discover the true potential of PLCs, and allow people to develop new technologies and share resources.
We plan to build our project on top of Factory I/O, a program capable of modeling complex manufacturing environments, and often used to simulate complex systems interacting with each other. We plan on using Factory I/O to develop a CDC scenario revolving around PLC logic. Students will have the opportunity to discover all of the vulnerabilities that will arise when interacting with these systems. We will build a network of servers within the ISEAGE environment (a virtualized playground that makes the CDCs possible), and intentionally leave vulnerabilities into web applications, domain services, PLC integration, etc. to usher in the next generation of CDC competitions and make interfacing with PLCs a reality.