Cyber-Physical Systems: The Last Defense

The development, evolution, and operation of a cyber-physical system are a cross-domain and holistic process. The process encompasses all elements of a cyber-physical system, including computation infrastructure, software, interfaces to the physical world, human interactions, as well as safety and security engineering domains. The process is holistic because it must assure conceptual integrity and correct interoperability across all elements of the CPS. Unfortunately, in all stages of this process, vulnerabilities can be introduced into the system (Because of negligence, mistakes, lack of skills, malicious activities, etc.). These dormant vulnerabilities can cause failures of the runtime system, possibly resulting in damage, loss of property or life, safety accidents, or security incidents. A promising approach to mitigate such risks is anomaly detection during runtime, using artificial intelligence/machine learning as the detection mechanism. This paper introduces the fundamental concepts of AI/ML anomaly detection and describes the corresponding intervention mechanisms. Automated intervention mechanisms are the last line of defense against failures, faults, malfunctions, and malicious activities.