TASC: Transparent, Agnostic, Secure Channel for CBTC Under Failure or Cyberattack

Utku Tefek, Ertem Esiner, Lin Wei, Yih Chun Hu

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Modern railway systems rely on communication-based train control (CBTC) for traffic management and automation. CBTC provides the controller with precise, timely updates on the position/speed of trains and communicates the corresponding control information to the trains. However, disruptions due to potential component failures and jamming attacks threaten the communication availability in CBTC. To improve availability, we propose a countermeasure based on redundant communications. The proposed Transparent, Agnostic, Secure Communication (TASC) system sniffs and tunnels the CBTC messages through an alternative network to their intended receivers. Prior works mitigate the impact of jamming and failures through hardware modifications to CBTC. In contrast, TASC is transparent to the underlying system, causing no interference unless signaling is disrupted, and designed to be agnostic to communication protocols above the physical-layer. Unlike commonly adopted active redundancy via the duplication of components, TASC steps in only upon signaling disruptions, employing standby redundancy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationReliability, Safety, and Security of Railway Systems. Modelling, Analysis, Verification, and Certification - 4th International Conference, RSSRail 2022, Proceedings
EditorsSimon Collart-Dutilleul, Anne E. Haxthausen, Thierry Lecomte
PublisherSpringer
Pages221-237
Number of pages17
ISBN (Print)9783031058134
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Event4th International Conference on Reliability, Safety and Security of Railway Systems, RSSRail 2022 - Paris, France
Duration: Jun 1 2022Jun 2 2022

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume13294 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference4th International Conference on Reliability, Safety and Security of Railway Systems, RSSRail 2022
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityParis
Period6/1/226/2/22

Keywords

  • Availability
  • CBTC
  • Communication redundancy
  • Jamming attack

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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