Cyber Threats to Industrial IoT: A Survey on Attacks and Countermeasures

• Published in: IoT 2021-03, Vol.2 (1), p.163-186
• Main Authors: Tsiknas, Konstantinos, Taketzis, Dimitrios, Demertzis, Konstantinos, Skianis, Charalabos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automation; Communication; Connectivity; Distributed control systems; Industry 4.0; Infrastructure; Internet of Things; Sensors
• ISSN: 2624-831X; 2624-831X
• DOI: 10.3390/iot2010009

In today’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) environment, where different systems interact with the physical world, the state proposed by the Industry 4.0 standards can lead to escalating vulnerabilities, especially when these systems receive data streams from multiple intermediaries, requiring multilevel security approaches, in addition to link encryption. At the same time taking into account the heterogeneity of the systems included in the IIoT ecosystem and the non-institutionalized interoperability in terms of hardware and software, serious issues arise as to how to secure these systems. In this framework, given that the protection of industrial equipment is a requirement inextricably linked to technological developments and the use of the IoT, it is important to identify the major vulnerabilities and the associated risks and threats and to suggest the most appropriate countermeasures. In this context, this study provides a description of the attacks against IIoT systems, as well as a thorough analysis of the solutions for these attacks, as they have been proposed in the most recent literature.