Industrial Intrusion Detection (Lab, SS 2024)

Master-level hands-on lab course on intrusion detection in industrial networks and settings such as production and energy networks. Students will implement and evaluate advanced intrusion detection approaches for industrial networks and/or generate training and test data for such systems.

Organizational Information

• Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Martin Henze
• Contact: henze (at) spice (dot) rwth-aachen (dot) de
• 4 SWS
• ECTS Credits: 7
• Study programs: Master Computer Science, Master Technical Communication, Master Education Computer Science, Master Data Science, Master Software Systems Engineering, Master Media Informatics, Master Mathematics, Master Erasmus, Master Simulation Sciences, Master Computational Engineering Science, Master Applied Geography
• Registration: During central registration process in January 2024. See our notes below on the selection process!
• Language: English

Important Dates

The lab will stretch the complete semester (not only the lecture period), with the kick-off planned for April and final presentations planned for September. There will be weekly meetings during the lecture period with a mixture of hands-on lectures, presentations by lab participants, and exercise tasks. Optionally, you can shift most of the workload to the lecture period to reduce interference with any potential exams.

• Kick-off Meeting: TBD (likely April 11); participation is mandatory; details will be announced to the selected participants via email.
• Weekly Meetings (during the lecture period): TBD (likely Thursdays 10:30-12:00)
• Final presentation: TBD (in September)

Motivation and Topics

In industrial scenarios more and more systems and network get interconnected using the Internet to realize novel forms of industrial cooperation. However, interconnecting more and more systems and networks introduces further surface for attacks. One solution to detect such attacks is the usage of intrusion detection systems, which are especially promising for industrial networks as they can be easily deployed to existing networks. In this lab course, students will gain hands-on experience with intrusion detection for industrial networks. This includes the implementation and evaluation of intrusion detection approaches as well as the generation of training and test data for intrusion detection systems.

Typically, participants are working in groups. At the beginning of the semester, students are introduced to the topic based on presentations and small programming tasks. Afterwards, each team gets assigend a larger practical project which they work on for the rest of the semester.

Prerequisites

There are no formal prerequisites for this lab course (besides those listed in your study regulations). However, programming skills in Python and potentially C/C++ are expected, experience in parsing communication protocols is helpful. Furthermore, basic knowledge on data communication and security is expected. Additional knowledge on industrial networks, intrusion detection, and network security is helpful.

Selection Process

As lab spots are in high-demand, please indicate clearly why you are interested in the lab and how you and other students may benefit from your participation.