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Sometimes referred to as the “next generation” computer system, cyber physical systems (CPS) is a category of embedded system that uses smart computation techniques associated with physical world and computational units.

The CPS can interact with the real-world systems by means of computation, communication and controls. The interaction of computational and physical units leads to advanced implementations of Internet of Things (IoT).

IoT and CPS are designed to support real time applications which can manage many environmental datasets. In other words, CPS is a combination of digital controls and the physical environment.

The applications of CPS have the potential to introduce significant changes in information intensive technology sectors such as manufacturing, water distribution systems, transportation, healthcare and smart buildings. For example, in manufacturing, CPS’s are used for self-monitoring the production operations and control.

CPS improves manufacturing processes by sharing information between machines, supply chain, suppliers, business systems and customers. Smart manufacturing provides high visibility controls on the supply chain which results in improving the traceability and security of goods. The impact of IoT and CPS in manufacturing industry is significantly growing. Sensors are used to predict equipment wear and diagnose faults. The analytics reduces the maintenance cost and increases operation performance.

Water distribution systems are also becoming increasingly automated. These systems consist of reservoirs, tanks, pumps, wells and pipes that deliver water to our taps. There are also devices to monitor activity such as sensors to detect the level of overflow of water from a tank or the pressure from the pipe – as well as programmable logic controls which can automatically open valves and supervisory controls and data acquisition systems that monitor controls all the devices in the network.

While all these innovations allow the system to run more efficiently and reliably, they also expose the system to potential attacks on the software that controls it. If hackers can remotely access the components of the CPS, they could do all sorts of damage ranging from stealing data, cutting of water supplies, damaging the equipment or even releasing chemicals used in processing into the system.

Hackers can also spy on a CPS system with eavesdropping attacks or by initiating deception attacks.

Want to know more? Tonex offers Cyber Physical Systems Workshop, a 3-day course where participants learn about the role of principled security-aware design and analysis in the development of both embedded systems and modern engineering systems. This includes the Smart grid as well as in future systems that use advanced AI and machine learning in safety-critical settings such as autonomous driving.

Additionally, Tonex offers nearly three dozen more courses in Cybersecurity Foundation. This includes cutting edge courses like:

Cybersecurity Fundamentals (2 days)

Electric Grid Cybersecurity Master Certification (4 weeks)

Network Security Training (2 days)

Software Security Training (2 days)

ICS Cybersecurity Training (4 days)

For more information, questions, comments, contact us.

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