SIMON: Semantic Inference Model for Security in Cyber Physical Systems using Ontologies

—Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) are an integration of computational and physical processes, where embedded cyber systems monitor and control physical processes. Cyber attacks largely target components in the cyber domain with the intention of disrupting the functionality of the components in the physical domain. In this paper, we present SIMON, an Ontological design and verification framework that captures the intricate relationship(s) between cyber and physical components in CPS by leveraging standard specification Ontologies and extending the NIST CPS framework. We demonstrate the capabilities of SIMON using two vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) safety appli- cations. In addition, we also investigate introducing resiliency measures that will ensure compliance of physical systems with their design specifications.