Cybersecurity challenges of digital twins: threats and security measures

In general terms, a Digital Twin is defined as a virtual model designed to accurately represent the state of an object. For example, a train may be equipped with several sensors that collect data on its speed, geographic location, energy consumption, brake status, among other aspects; so, its digital twin will have all that information.

Today, Digital Twins not only provide an accurate representation of the physical object, but also allow you to explore what-if scenarios and assess the impact of possible changes before implementing them in the real world using technologies such as Big Data or Machine Learning. This foresight and analysis capability is invaluable in many sectors, from manufacturing to healthcare and urban management. By providing a virtual platform to experiment and optimise processes, Digital Twins stand as a fundamental tool in the era of digital transformation, driving innovation and efficiency in multiple areas of modern life.

Advantages and disadvantages

The use of Digital Twins presents a number of significant advantages in various industrial sectors, opening up a range of possibilities for continuous improvement and strategic decision making. For example:

• Process optimisation: this tool allows you to identify areas for improvement and test new strategies before implementation, leading to tangible improvements in efficiency and productivity.
• Informed decision making: The Digital Twins offer detailed information and predictive analytics that support strategic decision making, providing companies with a complete picture for implementing effective business strategies.
• Cost reduction: Simulation of changes prior to their actual implementation minimises the expenses associated with testing and adjustments, resulting in considerable cost reductions for companies.
• Real-time monitoring: the ability to continuously monitor the performance and status of assets enables proactive detection of problems, speeding response to potential mishaps and ensuring a more efficient operation. 

However, it is important to note that there are also significant challenges to consider when implementing Digital Twins in a specific context:

• Technical complexity: requires expertise in areas such as 3D modelling, data integration and systems analysis, which can be a challenge for some organisations.
• High upfront costs: both the creation and maintenance of Digital Twins can require a significant investment of resources, which can limit their adoption in certain cases.
• Possible lack of accuracy: there is a risk that virtual models do not fully reflect reality, which could affect the effectiveness of decisions based on these models.
• Technology dependency: the effectiveness of the Digital Twins is closely linked to the availability and reliability of the underlying technology, highlighting the importance of maintaining a robust technology infrastructure.

Associated risks

The use of Digital Twins is not without cybersecurity risks. In these cases, cybersecurity risks become even more relevant due to their potential impact on the physical world. The interconnection between Digital Twins and physical systems makes them a critical point of vulnerability, where any security breach could have direct consequences on the operability of industrial equipment, production processes or even the safety of workers.

Imagine a situation where a train company relies on a Digital Twin to assess the current status of its train components and determine when preventive maintenance or removal of a train from service is necessary. If a malicious actor manages to compromise the integrity of the data, either by manipulating it from the data capture network or directly in the end system, to make the system show a more favourable status of the trains than it actually is, we could face a critical situation. This could trigger mechanical failures that affect the operation of the train, e.g. problems with the brakes.

As organisations continue to incorporate these innovative technologies in order to boost efficiency and business decisions, it becomes essential to identify and address the cybersecurity risks that come with them. Below, we will examine some of these risks that can jeopardise the integrity and operation of Digital Twins in industrial environments:

• Data manipulation: there is the potential for individuals with malicious intent to manipulate the data used by the Digital Twins, which could trigger erroneous decisions with direct repercussions on industrial processes and critical services.
• Infrastructure vulnerabilities: vulnerabilities in the security of the underlying infrastructure, including network systems and OT, IoT and IIoT devices, represent a potential threat to the integrity of the Digital Twins. In particular, assets in industrial environments often use weak communication protocols, making them susceptible to compromise if adequate measures are not implemented from a cybersecurity perspective.
• Denial of service: Digital Twins could be targeted by denial-of-service attacks, affecting their normal operation and compromising the ability of organisations to make informed decisions and improve process efficiency. This susceptibility is due to the continuous flow of data received by the Digital Twins from real-time or near real-time objects. A system outage would result in the loss of information about the current states of the objects, which would hinder decision making.
• Wide field of exposure: to ensure the proper functioning of the Digital Twin, it is often necessary to connect numerous objects equipped with various sensors, which significantly widens the field of exposure. This large number of elements increases the potential attack surface, as each of them could represent a possible entry point into the network for malicious actors. The complexity and the extent of the Digital Twins' field of exposure highlight the need for proactive and comprehensive approaches to cyber security.
• Device diversity: the digitisation of physical objects to power Digital Twins involves a variety of items from different manufacturers, models and technologies. This diversity presents challenges in management and maintenance, as each case requires specific resources that may become obsolete or incompatible with already integrated elements or new deployments.

Security measures

By understanding the risks inherent in implementing Digital Twins in a given environment, we can adopt countermeasures or security measures to mitigate these risks. It is essential to perform a thorough risk analysis, covering the initial stages of the project through to the end of the product lifecycle. The following are some countermeasures that can be useful as a reference in this type of environment:

• Monitoring: The implementation of a comprehensive surveillance and monitoring policy becomes imperative to address cybersecurity challenges effectively, covering critical aspects such as assets, network and data. In terms of monitoring at the asset level, it is essential to supervise in real time the running processes, accesses and any changes made to them, enabling early detection and response to potential threats or malicious activities. At the network level, it is necessary to establish a baseline of communications to identify normal traffic patterns and detect anomalies. Any unusual communications should be carefully examined to determine their legitimacy. Finally, at the data level, it is crucial to verify the authenticity of the source and ensure that the structure and contents are within the expected parameters, thus maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of the information.
• Use of secure communications and protocols: it is essential to avoid the use of communication protocols that lack adequate security settings, such as lack of encryption, lack of verification of the origin and destination of communications, or lack of error checking of packets. In addition, communications must be established over secure channels and media to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data during transmission. For example, wireless transmission media present a higher risk compared to wired media and specific countermeasures must be implemented to mitigate these risks. In situations where it is not possible to use secure protocols, additional security elements can be incorporated into the risk zone, such as inter-element hopping machines, proxies, IDSs, IPSs, among others, to strengthen protection against potential threats.
• Redundancy: In critical systems and equipment, it is vital to ensure the continuity of services by implementing redundancy measures to prevent interruptions. To this end, alternative and parallel routes can be established in communications systems to guarantee the availability of the service in the event of a failure in a main route. It is also essential to integrate auxiliary power supply equipment, such as Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), to guarantee the necessary energy in the event of power cuts or fluctuations. For critical information systems, it is recommended to have identical secondary systems in passive mode, capable of acting as the main system in case of failure of the main system, thus ensuring continuity of service without significant interruptions.
• Asset management: It is crucial to document and store information on all assets purchased for the infrastructure, especially where there is significant diversity. This documentation should be dynamic and regularly updated, including relevant information to identify and understand key components in the event of an incident.
• Hardening: Implementing hardening measures on the assets involved in the system will have a significant impact on reducing the entry points that a malicious actor could use to compromise the security of the system. For example, closing non-essential ports, restricting application execution to only those necessary and blocking access to removable media are effective actions to strengthen the defence against potential threats.

The design and approach to security measures must be specifically tailored to the context of Digital Twins. As these systems differ from conventional IT systems, standard security strategies may have limited effectiveness if they are not tailored to the needs and particularities of this environment.

Conclusions

Although Digital Twins present numerous advantages, they also pose significant challenges, especially in terms of cybersecurity. The interconnection between Digital Twins and physical systems makes them critical points of vulnerability, where any security breach could have serious consequences on the operability of industrial equipment and the safety of workers.

Securing the Digital Twins is not just the responsibility of cyber security teams, but requires the involvement of all stakeholders in the organisation, from senior management to operational staff, suppliers and maintenance personnel.