A Petri net model for Time-Delay Attack detection in Precision Time Protocol-based networks

Along with the development of industrial and distributed systems, security concerns have also emerged in industrial communication protocols. PTP, Precision Time Protocol, is one of the most precise time synchronisation protocols for industrial devices. It ensures real-time activity of the industrial control systems with precision equal to microseconds. In order to address the actual or potential security issues of PTP, this article firstly describes attack models applicable to PTP and then focuses on applying Coloured Petri Net to formally analyse the attack detection methods and also model PTP. The alignment of simulation results with the model and the considered assumptions show the suitability and accuracy of the proposed model. The authors propose a Petri net model as a formal validation tool to evaluate the robustness of the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) algorithm in a network and to assess the accuracy and capabilities of Time Delay Attack and detection algorithms. The proposed model is applicable to implement the synchronisation process in different network topologies while all possible time delay attacks and their impact may be explored. image