"Cyber Threats Targeting Agriculture Focus of New Cybersecurity Testbed"

A cybersecurity professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is leading research aimed at protecting against hackers and cyber criminals who may target Nebraska's agricultural industry and beyond, from farmers in the fields to large-scale agricultural facilities. Combating cyber threats to Nebraska's farmers and agricultural industries starts with identifying vulnerabilities contained by systems and machinery. However, given the size of the machinery involved, researching vulnerabilities can be costly and logistically difficult. Therefore, George Grispos, Ph.D., assistant professor of cybersecurity at UNO, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), built the Security Testbed for Agricultural Vehicles and Environments (STAVE) to shrink agricultural systems down to a more manageable level. As more machinery gains online capabilities such as mapping and automated steering, attackers may target anything from tractors and combines to trailers transporting expensive fertilizers and chemicals. The study provides a framework for future cybersecurity research at a manageable scale, allowing researchers to close any vulnerabilities open for attackers and help keep the state's agricultural workforce moving. STAVE includes electronic components common in farm machinery and consumer electronics such as Raspberry Pi microcomputers. These components are mounted to a board and connected to a laptop, thus allowing Grispos and his colleagues to emulate larger machinery and systems. The researchers hope that STAVE will lead to the discovery of vulnerabilities that can later be patched, as well as the establishment of more testbeds on other machines in the future. This article continues to discuss the newly developed STAVE aimed at helping researchers find and address vulnerabilities in agricultural systems. 

UNOmaha reports "Cyber Threats Targeting Agriculture Focus of New Cybersecurity Testbed"