Intelligente Security für elektrische Stellantriebe und Stromrichter in kritischen Infrastrukturen

The project “Intelligent Security for Electric Actuators and Power Converters in Critical Infrastructures” was funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy. Together with the two industrial partners, SIPOS Aktorik GmbH and Grass Power Electronics GmbH, we worked on security solutions specifically for embedded systems with limited resources. The products of both companies are used in critical infrastructures. The electric actuators for industrial valves from SIPOS Aktorik GmbH are used in power stations, sewage treatment plants and pumping stations, for example. Grass Power Electronics GmbH develops power electronic systems for electrical energy supply. The systems manage photovoltaic systems, battery storage and charging stations for electric vehicles, e.g., and connect the local power grids to the public power grid through intelligent feed-in management. The goal of the three-year research project was to develop comprehensive and resource-efficient security solutions for embedded systems and thus contribute to the protection of critical infrastructures. Based on a threat and risk analysis, various concepts with hardware and/or software solutions were initially created in order to estimate the achievable security level in each case. Specific solutions were then developed to ensure system integrity, user authentication and secure communication. The validation of the individual as well as the combination of the developed security measures, both by the project partners and by external project partners and external institutes rounded off the project.