PLC Cybersecurity Test Platform Establishment and Cyberattack Practice

Abstract

Programming logic controllers (PLCs) are vital components for conveyors in production lines, and the sensors and actuators controlled underneath the PLCs represent critical points in the manufacturing process. Attacks targeting the exploitation of PLC vulnerabilities have been on the rise recently. In this study, a PLC test platform aims to analyze the vulnerabilities of a typical industrial setup and perform cyberattack exercises to review the system cybersecurity challenges. The PLC test platform is a sorting machine consisting of an automatic conveyor belt, two Mitsubishi FX5U-32M PLCs, and accessories for material sorting, and Modbus is the selected protocol for data communication. The O.S. on the attacker is Kali ver. 2022.3, runs Nmap and Metasploit to exploit the target Modbus registers. On the other hand, the target host runs the O.S., Ubuntu 22.04 in the cyberattack exercises. The selected attack method for this study is packet reply which can halt operations sending custom data packets to the PLC. In summary, this study provides a basic step-by-step offensive strategy targeting register modification, and the testbed represents a typical industrial environment and its vulnerabilities against cyberattacks with common open-source tools.