AI and Security in Cyber Physical System Design

Dear Colleagues,

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) can be seen as the combination of computation, communication, and physical processes, where embedded computation and networking can control physical devices.

The combination of machines, sensors, embedded computational intelligence, and communication mechanisms allow CPS to monitor and control physical components through computer-based algorithms strongly supported by internet connectivity (Internet of Things—IoT). New sensors with computational capabilities allowing adaptive and cognitive computation are becoming the core of CPS and safety-critical systems.

Cyber-physical systems also play an essential role in industrial digitalization. Associated processes require automatized data acquisition and data storage, beyond analyses on the cloud. Having secure communication between physical devices and the cloud is a vital issue.

Continuous improvements in computational methods, artificial intelligence (AI), and communications, as well as at sensor and actuators levels, allow machines to refine their performance interacting with the surrounding environment. Adaptation and self-learning need to be present whenever fault tolerant operation and resiliency need to be considered. Cybersecurity in operation is mandatory whenever control of critical infrastructures is considered, leading to high security requirements.

Summarizing the above, it can be noticed that the current design of cyber-physical systems has to face numerous challenges when integrating the new AI methodologies, keeping security and resiliency at high levels.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Design methodologies of CPS and IoT;
• Formal analysis and verification of CPS and IoT, safety-critical systems;
• Cybersecurity aspects, including cryptographic algorithms, protocols, e-services, etc.;
• Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning techniques applied to CPS and IoT;
• AI-based security solutions for CPS and IoT;
• Impact of AI-based solutions on CPS performance;
• Modeling of attack behavior;
• Attack prediction modeling;
• Industrial digitalization and CPS.

Dr. Anikó Costa
Prof. Dr. Remigiusz Wiśniewski
Guest Editors

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