Assessment of the Distributed Ledger Technology for Energy Sector Industrial and Operational Applications Using the MITRE ATT&CK® ICS Matrix

Journal Article · Thu Jun 22 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · IEEE Access

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2023.3288428· OSTI ID:1997359

Lee, Annabelle ^[1]; Gourisetti, Sri Gupta ^[2]; Sebastian-Cardenas, David Jonathan ^[3]; Lambert, Kent ^[4]; Navarro, Vicente ^[5]; Pasetti, Marco ^[6]; Cali, Ümit ^[7]; Isirova, Kateryna ^[8]; Reddi, Ramesh ^[9]; Nitu, Puica ^[10]; Touhiduzzaman, Md ^[3]; Mylrea, Michael ^[11]; Huff, Philip ^[12]; Rahimi, Farrokh ^[13]; Saha, Shammya Shananda ^[14]

---

1. Nevermore Security, Evergreen, CO (United States)
2. National Resilience Inc., San Diego, CA (United States)
3. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
4. BlockFrame Inc., Colorado Springs, CO (United States)
5. University of Panama (Panama)
6. University of Brescia (Italy)
7. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim (Norway)
8. KPMG, Zürich (Switzerland)
9. CybSecBCML Inc., Raleigh, NC (United States)
10. Canadian Institute World Energy System, Toronto, ON (Canada)
11. University of Miami, FL (United States)
12. University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR (United States)
13. Open Access Technology International Inc., Minneapolis, MN (United States)
14. Electric Power Research Institute, Knoxville, TN (United States)

In recent times, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has gained significant attention for its potential application in the energy sector. Utilizing blockchain and DLT has demonstrated the ability to enhance the resilience of the electric infrastructure, which will support a more flexible infrastructure and advance grid modernization. However, the deployment of these technologies increases the overall attack surface. The MITRE ATT&CK® matrices have been developed to document an adversary’s tactics and techniques based on real-world observations. The MITRE ATT&CK® matrices provide a common taxonomy for offense and defense and have become a valuable conceptual tool across multiple cybersecurity disciplines for conveying threat intelligence, performing testing through red teaming or adversary emulation, and enhancing network and system defenses against intrusions. The MITRE ATT&CK® for Industrial Control Systems (ICS) matrix was created to provide knowledge about adversary behavior in the ICS technology domain. This study analyzes the relevance of various tactics and techniques across a seven-layer DLT engineering and cybersecurity stack, known as the DLT stack, designed by the Cybersecurity Taskforce under IEEE P2418.5 - Standard for Blockchain in Energy working group sponsored by Power and Energy Systems - Smart Buildings, Loads and Customer Systems (PES/SBLC) Technical Committee. Additionally, this paper identifies specific mitigation strategies tailored to the energy ICS environment

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1997359
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-183766
• Journal Information: IEEE Access, Journal Name: IEEE Access Vol. 11; ISSN 2169-3536
• Publisher: IEEE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
Cybersecurity
MITRE ICS ATT&CK®
distributed ledger technology
power systems
resiliency