Position Paper: Secure Time Transfer for CPS

Abstract

To secure the future of “new clockwork,” research must overcome the current vulnerabilities of cyber-physical systems to malicious timing attacks. Such attacks can take a wide range of forms—from physical to cyber to a mixture of both— and can cause a wide range of impacts—from local outages to system-wide failures. This paper presents four “needs” that, if properly addressed, will lead to a better understanding of the impact of malicious timing attacks on today’s CPS and offer a secure time transfer protocol to defend future CPS from such threats.