Cross-layer Approach for Designing Resilient (Sociotechnical, Cyber-Physical, Software-intensive and Systems of) Systems

Abstract

Our society’s critical infrastructures are sociotechnical cyber-physical systems (CPS) increasingly using open networks for operation. The vulnerabilities of the software deployed in the new control system infrastructure will expose the control system to many potential risks and threats from attackers. This paper starts to develop an information systems design theory for resilient software-intensive systems (DT4RS) so that communities developing and operating different security technologies can share knowledge and best practices using a common frame of reference. By a sound design theory, the outputs of these communities will combine to create more resilient systems, with fewer vulnerabilities and an improved stakeholder sense of security and welfare. The main element of DT4RS is a multi-layered reference architecture of the human, software (cyber) and platform (physical) layers of a cyber-physical system. The layered architecture can facilitate the understanding of the cross-layer interactions between the layers. Cyber security properties are leveraged to help analyzing the interactions between these layers.