Objectives : Security against cyber-attacks is one of the main challenges for Industry 4.0 and in particular for networked control systems (NCSs). Considered as a special form of cyber-physical systems, NCSs are control systems in which the system to be controlled and the various components such as actuators, controllers, and sensors are spatially distributed while communication between these components is achieved by using a digital communication network that is shared by other applications and control systems. In industry, NCSs offer many advantages, such as cost-efficiency and improved functionality, but new problems arise with the use of this control implementation. One of them is the security issue for NCSs and more generally for Industry 4.0. Indeed, the communication capabilities of NCSs make them more vulnerable to various threats and cyberattacks with major potential consequences for users. In this context, the proposed research work aims to propose a framework of models and methods to track the system behaviour and generate an alarm at earliest once the system is attacked improving the early detection schemes of cyberattacks in NCSs. For this purpose, the first objective of this research will be to represent NCSs with suitable Discrete Event Systems (DES) formalisms to capture the temporal altered behaviour of such complex systems. the second objective will be to develop DES model-based methods with temporal aspects for the detection scheme of stealthy attacks on NCSs.
Supervisors: Pr. Isabel Demongodin (LIS), Pr. Dimitri Lefebvre (GREAH), Dr. Rabah Ammour (LIS)
PhD candidate profile: the candidate should have a strong background in automation and/or computer science and good programming skills (Matlab, C/C++ or Python, knowledge of mathematical libraries). A good knowledge about discrete event systems including Petri nets and automata will be appreciated. She/He must be motivated by research in security of networked control systems and able to work in a multidisciplinary team.
Funding: this PhD proposal is a part of project MENACES (Timed Event-Based Methods for Networked Control Systems Security) funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR). Funding available for a 3 years contract with a flexible starting date around September/October 2023.
How to apply: send by may 10, 2023 a CV, a cover letter (explaining the motivations and the choice of the thesis topic), transcripts of previous 3 years (including the current one), references and, internship/project reports to rabah.ammour@lis-lab.fr, in preparation for a potential interview.
