A Multi-level Cyber-Security Reference Model in Support of Vulnerability Analysis

This paper reports on the second engineering cycle of a reference model for end-to-end cyber-security by design in the electricity sector. In our previous work, we proposed a reference model that relies on the integrated consideration of two fragmented, but complementary, reference models: NISTIR 7628 and powerLang. To align these reference models, we rely on multi-level modeling, specifically on the Flexible Meta Modeling and Execution Language (FMMLx), and integrated modeling and programming Within this paper, we strengthen the bottom-up design of the reference model's application by integrating a semi-automated threat analysis. This enables the identification of possible points of improvement in the actual architecture design, as well as a future analysis of business-level impact of different threats. To demonstrate our approach, we rely on the well-studied Ukraine scenario from 2016.