Multidimensional attack damage assessment of cyber-physical systems based on hierarchical analysis

With characteristics, such as cross interconnection and multiple connections, cyber-physical systems is susceptible to network attack. Through relevant research on its network architecture and on the characteristics of its network application, a model for multidimensional attack damage assessment is established. Firstly, the cyber-physical systems was divided in three dimensions: the physical layer, the rule layer and the service layer. For each layer, an attribute-based method for assessing the network attack damage was given. Then, through monitoring the network status, the attributes for attack damage assessment were obtained, which include topological stability, connectivity availability, failure controllability, transmission stability, packet loss availability, bit error controllability, response stability, service availability and risk controllability. Finally, the analytic hierarchy process was used to gain the evaluation results of the attack damage in each of the three different layers and the whole network, thus providing support and basis for the security protection of the network. Simulation of the DDoS attack on the cyber-physical systems, along with the application of the proposed method to evaluate the attack damage, verifies the practicability and effectiveness of the model. © 2022 Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA). All rights reserved.