CAREER:Formal Synthesis of Provably Correct Cyber-Physical Defense with Asymmetric Information

对于任务关键型网络物理系统(CPSS)，确保这些系统在与开放、动态和不确定的环境交互时正确运行至关重要。确保合成CPSS是一项艰巨的任务：一方面，互连的网络、传感器和(半)自治系统给网络和物理空间带来了前所未有的脆弱性；另一方面，有目的的攻击可能旨在损害传统稳定性和安全性之外的更复杂的系统特性。例如，在机器人安全巡逻系统中，对传感器网络的成功网络攻击可以与敌对的控制命令相结合，从而危及系统并扰乱其任务。在这个项目中，目标是开发CPSS的智能传感和控制方法，利用先进的网络防御技术来构建受高级复杂任务目标约束的可证明安全的系统。为了实现这一目标，该项目将为一类CPS游戏开发正式的建模和解决方案，其特征是控制器/防御者和(协调的网络和物理)攻击者之间的多阶段战略交互。CPS控制/防御策略的综合将明确说明信息不对称的原因，并研究如何利用网络防御和欺骗来保证关键任务CPSS的性能。基本理论和算法将通过包括多个移动机器人和无线传感器网络的物理试验台和作为虚拟试验场的模拟来验证。其技术贡献是：1)开发具有时间逻辑目标的不完全信息博弈的解决方案，并使用该解决方案设计攻击下CPSS的控制和信息获取策略；2)研究在综合网络物理防御中利用网络防御技术获得防御者对CPS攻击者的信息优势；3)开发针对协同网络和物理攻击的控制策略，以及包含人类对CPS对先前未知攻击的弹性偏好的新型控制方法。该项目还包括一项教育计划，为工科学生开发关于网络物理安全和攻击缓解技术的跨学科课程。PI将通过参与校园范围的活动，并为高中生提供为期两周的暑期课程，进行机器人和无线传感器网络实验，旨在提高学生对科学和工程的兴趣，并提高公众对CPS安全的意识，以促进K-12的推广。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

For mission-critical Cyber-physical systems (CPSs), it is crucial to ensure these systems behave correctly while interacting with open, dynamic, and uncertain environments. Synthesizing CPSs with assurance is a daunting task: On the one hand, the interconnected networks, sensors, and (semi-) autonomous systems introduce unprecedented vulnerabilities to both cyber- and physical spaces; On the other hand, purposeful attacks may aim to compromise more complex system properties beyond traditional stability and safety. For example, in a robotized security patrol system, a successful cyber-attack on the sensor network can be combined with adversarial control commands to compromise the system and disrupt its mission. In this project, the goal is to develop intelligent sensing and control methods for CPSs that leverage advanced cyber defense techniques for constructing provably secured systems subject to high-level complex mission objectives.To achieve this goal, this project will develop formal modeling and solutions for a class of CPS Games, featured by multi-stage, strategic interactions between a controller/defender and a (coordinated cyber- and physical-) attacker. The synthesis of CPS control/defense strategies will explicitly account for asymmetric information and investigate how to leverage cyber defense and deception for guaranteed performance in mission-critical CPSs. The fundamental theory and algorithms will be validated via both a physical testbed including multiple mobile robots and a wireless sensor network and a simulation as a virtual proving ground. The technical contributions are: 1) to develop solutions of imperfect information games with temporal logic objectives and employ the solutions to design control and information acquisition strategies for CPSs under attacks; 2) to investigate the use of cyber defense techniques for gaining defender information advantages against CPS attackers in the synthesis of integrated cyber-physical defense; 3) to develop control strategies against coordinated cyber- and physical- attacks, and novel control methods that incorporate human’s preference for CPS resilience against prior unknown attacks. The project also includes an educational plan by developing an interdisciplinary curriculum for engineering students on cyber-physical security and attack mitigation techniques. The PI will promote K-12 outreach by participating in campus-wide activities and offering a two-week summer course for high-school students with hands-on robotic and wireless sensor networks experiments, aiming to raise students’ interest in science and engineering and public’s awareness of CPS security.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.