Hasso-Plattner-Institut
Prof. Dr. Falk Uebernickel
 

Rohde&Schwarz Case 2018/19

Challenge: "How might we help the responsible persons in an Industry 4.0 production site to make sure they are secure of cyberattacks?” Cyberattacks, which are able to penetrate production sites and damage them, will continue to increase with the rise of digitalization in factories. Production sites are becoming increasingly interconnected, with more and more data collected and transmitted between machine components, leading to a physical-digital convergence. Cyberattacks exploit the vulnerabilities at this intersection of production and IT. To defend production sites, we need to strengthen this intersection and empower employees to make the right decisions."

Our developed prototype BASTEC is the first cybersecurity solution that targets the cyber-physical convergence by combining views of both the physical machines and digital networks in production sites. BASTEC includes automated alerts and anomaly detection, action recommendations as well as customizable actions, unique real-time collaboration functionalities to allow fast-decision making in emergency situations. To easily integrate itself into the current infrastructure of companies, BASTEC builds on existing cybersecurity products from Rohde&Schwarz.

A further unique feature of BASTEC is its inclusion of production-relevant information. We are convinced that by adding the necessary information to manage production processes, we enable employees to detect cyberattacks, evaluate them, and finally initiate the right actions.

If a cyberattack hits a factory, every second counts. Each minute that the production lines stand still costs the company thousands of dollars.

BASTEC harnesses the knowledge and expertise of people in production sites by giving them a platform to work together easily. It provides the structure and guidance that was previously lacking in order to enable them to respond quickly and effectively to cyberattacks. In doing so, it reduces the time spent on resolving attacks – and in production, time saved is money saved.