In order to meet the requirements for flexibility of production plants in the process industry, modularization is a widely accepted approach. In particular, the Module Type Package (MTP) described in VDI/VDE/NAMUR~2658 is seen as a possible core element of modular automation. A clear separation of the engineering effort into plant-independent module engineering and plant-specific integration engineering as well as a fast integration of the automation system of a module into a higher-level process control system change the basic automation architecture.

The security consideration of modularization and especially of the MTP concept is very fragmented or even non-existent due to problems in the migration of security mechanisms of monolithic plants to the MTP concept and difficulties of risk assessment in a modular context.

Objectives

The goal of this work is to perform a risk-based security analysis of a real MTP-based automation plant. This plant shall be provided by a partner from the process industry.

Helpful previous knowledge

The following prior knowledge is helpful (but not required) for completing this thesis:

• Security for Industrial Automation and Control Systems
• Module Type Package