Publications Details

Virtual control system environment: A modeling and simulation tool for process control systems

Lee, Erik L.; Michalski, John T.; Sholander, Peter E.; Van Leeuwen, Brian P.

The development of tools and techniques for security testing and performance testing of Process Control Systems (PCS) is needed since those systems are vulnerable to the same classes of threats as other networked computer systems. In practice, security testing is difficult to perform on operational PCS because it introduces an unacceptable risk of disruption to the critical systems (e.g., power grids) that they control. In addition, the hardware used in PCS is often expensive, making full-scale mockup systems for live experiments impractical. A more flexible approach to these problems can be provided through test beds that provide the proper mix of real, emulated, and virtual elements to model large, complex systems such as critical infrastructures. This paper describes a "Virtual Control System Environment" that addresses these issues.