An analysis of security issues in building automation systems
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Faculty
Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science
School
School of Computer and Security Science / Security Research Institute
RAS ID
18868
Abstract
The purpose of Building Automation Systems (BAS) is to centralise the management of a wide range of building services, through the use of integrated protocol and communication media. Through the use of IP-based communication and encapsulated protocols, BAS are increasingly being connected to corporate networks and also being remotely accessed for management purposes, both for convenience and emergency purposes. These protocols, however, were not designed with security as a primary requirement, thus the majority of systems operate with sub-standard or non-existent security implementations, relying on security through obscurity. Research has been undertaken into addressing the shortfalls of security implementations in BAS, however defining the threats against BAS, and detection of these threats is an area that is particularly lacking. This paper presents an overview of the current security measures in BAS, outlining key issues, and methods that can be improved to protect cyber physical systems against the increasing threat of cyber terrorism and hacktivism. Future research aims to further evaluate and improve the detection systems used in BAS through first defining the threats and then applying and evaluating machine learning algorithms for traffic classification and IDS profiling capable of operating on resource constrained BAS.
DOI
10.4225/75/57b691dfd9386
Access Rights
free_to_read
Comments
Originally published in the Proceedings of the 12th Australian Information Security Management Conference. Held on the 1-3 December, 2014 at Edith Cowan University, Joondalup Campus, Perth, Western Australia. Available here