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Abstract Despite more and more rigorous defense mechanisms in place for cyber-physical systems, cybercriminals are increasingly attacking systems for benefits using a variety of means including malware, phishing, ransomware, and denial of service. Cyberattacks could not only cause significant economic loss but also disastrous consequences for individuals and organizations. Therefore, it is advantageous to detect and fix potential cyber vulnerabilities before the system is fielded. To this end, this article presents a language, VERDICT, and a novel framework, Cyber Vulnerability Analysis Framework (CyVAF) to (i) define cyber threats and mitigation defenses based on system properties, (ii) detect cyber vulnerabilities of system architecture automatically, and also (iii) suggest mitigation defenses. VERDICT is developed as an annex to the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) but can also be used independently.

Abstract Threat identification and security analysis have become mandatory steps in the engineering design process of high-assurance systems, where successful cyberattacks can lead to hazardous property damage or loss of lives. This article describes a novel approach to perform security analysis on embedded systems modeled at the architectural level. The tool, called Security Threat Evaluation and Mitigation (STEM), associates threats from the Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) library with components and connections and suggests potential defense patterns from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-53 security standard. This article also provides an illustrative example based on a drone package delivery system modeled in AADL.

Abstract Identity-Anonymized CAN (IA-CAN) protocol is a secure CAN protocol, which provides the sender authentication by inserting a secret sequence of anonymous IDs (A-IDs) shared among the communication nodes. To prevent malicious attacks from the IA-CAN protocol, a secure and robust system error recovery mechanism is required. This article presents a central management method of IA-CAN, named the IA-CAN with a global A-ID, where a gateway plays a central role in the session initiation and system error recovery. Each ECU self-diagnoses the system errors, and (if an error happens) it automatically resynchronizes its A-ID generation by acquiring the recovery information from the gateway. We prototype both a hardware version of an IA-CAN controller and a system for the IA-CAN with a global A-ID using the controller to verify our concept.