Security challenges in cyber systems

CPS (Cyber-Physical Systems) is proposed by the NSF (National Scientific Foundation) to describe a type of necessities which conglomerates hardware and software components and being the next step in development of embedded systems. CPS includes a wide range of research topics from signal processing to data analysis. This paper contains a brief review of the basic infrastructure for CPS including smart objects and network aspects in relation to TCP/IP stack. As CPS reflect the processes of the physical environment onto the cyber space, virtualisation as important tool for abstraction plays crucial role in CPS. In this context paper presents the challenges associated with mobility and vritualisation; accordingly, three main types of virtualisation, namely network, devices and applications virtualisation are presented in the paper. The main focus of the paper is made on security. Different threats, attack types and possible consequences are discussed as well as analysis of various approaches to cope with existing threats is introduced. Furthermore, needs and requirements for safety-critical CPS are reviewed.