CYPRESS: Cyber-Physical Resilient and Secure Systems

The ongoing digitalization of society is not limited to mere information processing, as it is increasingly leveraging complex Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). These range from sensors & actuators in critical infrastructure, to appliances in automated smart buildings, to emergency networks using ad-hoc and satellite communications. However, CPS are an attractive target for cyber-attacks, which can threaten the security of strategic societal assets.

This project will develop novel solutions, products and standards to enhance the security and resilience of CPS in strategic, often critical assets. The developed solutions will be effective in making such attacks practically infeasible to be carried out, by adopting a defense-in-depth approach to protect the system and network infrastructure by construction. Also, they will leverage appropriate design rationales and building blocks to be lightweight and affordable to adopt in resource-constrained devices and platforms.

The overall objective for the Swedish consortium is to develop novel and lightweight security solutions for CPS, together with international open standards. The Swedish consortium will focus on these application areas: smart city and smart building; energy production/distribution and smart grid; automated enrolment, monitoring and management of network devices. In those areas, we will research and develop solutions that address network & communication security as well as security management of CPS. Specific topics include:

• End-to-end secure communication
• Secure and robust edge computing
• AI-based intrusion and anomaly detection through Federated Learning (FL) for edge networks
• Fine grained and dynamic access control
• Management of secure communication and keying material
• Automated device on-boarding and identity management

The CYPRESS project will deliver security solutions, products and standards for CPS. This will also raise confidence in the adoption of CPS in strategic IT infrastructure, and thus accelerate the commercialization of related products.

Open standardization of security solutions will especially target the premier international body Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), thereby enabling interoperability among different vendors. This in turn facilitates the building of a homogeneous ecosystem, where it is easier to develop secure services and applications, while reducing production and operational costs.