Electronics: Special Issue on Cybersecurity and Privacy Issues in Cyber-Physical Systems and Industrial Control Systems

Notification Due

Jun 26, 2026

Final Version Due

Jun 26, 2026

Submission Deadline

Nov 25, 2023

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are physical and engineered systems that interact with the physical environment. These systems exist everywhere around us, and range in size, complexity and criticality, from embedded systems used in smart vehicles, to SCADA systems in smart grids to control systems in water distribution systems, to smart transportation systems, to plant control systems, engineering workstations, substation equipment, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and other Industrial Control Systems (ICS). CPSs are elements of the Internet of Things (IoT) and, because they have resulted from the integration of information technology with operational technology, are central to the fourth industrial revolution and to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

As CPS and ICS proliferate, and increasingly interconnect and interact among them and with us, they present an increased cyber-attack surface. As they also increasingly affect our life, their cybersecurity becomes of paramount importance. Accordingly, research into the cybersecurity and privacy of CPSs is attracting increasing attention from both industry and academia.

In line with these efforts, the main theme of this Special Issue is to investigate novel methodologies, theories, technologies, techniques, processes, and solutions for CPS cybersecurity and privacy. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews that present innovative ideas, proof of concepts, use cases, and results from a variety of topics relevant to ICS and CPS are welcome.

Topics addressed in the submissions include, but are not limited to:

Attacks and attack detection for CPS and ICS

Authentication and access control for CPS and ICS

Blockchain for CPS and ICS cybersecurity

Data security and privacy for CPS and ICS

Digital twin security for CPS and ICS

Embedded systems security

Formal methods for CPS and ICS cybersecurity

Incident Response and Digital Forensics for CPS and ICS

IoT and IIoT cybersecurity and privacy

Lightweight crypto technologies applied to CPS and ICS

Maritime CPS cybersecurity

Methods, tools and techniques for the elicitation, analysis and modeling of security requirements for CPS and ICS

Penetration testing for CPS and ICS

Recovery of CPS and ICS from cyber attacks

Risk management for CPS and ICS

Secure communication protocols for CPS and ICS

Security architectures for CPS and ICS

Security by design for CPS and ICS

Security testing methods and tools for CPS and ICS

Threat modeling for CPS and ICS

Vulnerability analysis for CPS and ICS

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Georgios Kavallieratos

Dr. Georgios Spathoulas

Dr. Marios Anagnostopoulos

Guest Editors