CERCES - Center for Resilient Critical Infrastructures

CERCES is a project funded by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) which is concerned with the analysis and design of resilient control systems for critical infrastructures, such as power systems, traffic systems, and water distribution.

"A resilient control system is one that maintains state awareness and an accepted level of operational normalcy in response to disturbances, including threats of an unexpected and malicious nature."
- Rieger, Gertman, McQueen, 2009

The project at MSB

View the project webpage

Leaflet (in Swedish) (pdf 1.1 MB)

CERCES responds to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency’s (MSBs) intention to finance a program of research on information security in the industrial information and control systems area. The four involved KTH groups have solid expertise in computer science security, communications, communication theory, and control systems. The center's research is organized into four main activities that focus on security in embedded systems, wireless communication, communication and computing infrastructures, and control of cyber-physical systems.

By cooperating with the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), the center will be firmly entrenched in today's industrial control systems, but the activities are forward-looking and intend to identify emerging threats, such as the wireless infrastructure in the control system. The center is not limited to a particular critical infrastructure, but intends to develop tools that can be applied widely in the control systems in e.g. smart grids, water distribution networks, and traffic systems.

CERCES activity will be firmly anchored in the above mentioned research fields. Expected results include methods for safety verification of embedded processes in control and measuring equipment, safety solutions for wireless communication in industrial systems, new security solutions for SCADA systems, and methods for designing resilient automatic control system with the ability to identify and mitigate the effects of cyber-attacks and unexpected failures.

CERCES targets multiple audiences, including industrial partners who use and develop control systems but also relevant authorities responsible for the critical societal functions. We also intend to address the students in our educational activities, to raise their awareness concerning future threats. Likewise, we will cooperate with existing testbeds and centers, and to use their expertise in our research, and partly to increase their awareness of emerging threats.