Emmet Friel cyber security blog
Why is Resilient Timekeeping Important For Creating Resilient Critical Infrastructure?
All of our everyday conveniences from the electricity that powers our homes, the clean water running through our taps, browsing the internet, making phone calls, and purchasing items online all require some form of positional, navigation and timing (PNT) services. Additionally, people heavily rely on other infrastructure such as hospitals, transport networks, manufacturing, and agriculture. These critical infrastructures are an essential part of a functioning society upon which ultimately life depends. Therefore, the need to protect these infrastructures is of upmost importance and national concern.
So, what does timekeeping have to do with critical infrastructure?
Under the hood of each of these infrastructures is a web of complex interconnected cyber-physical systems that require 24/7/365 availability. Time, more importantly, accurate and reliable time, is an essential part of what makes these systems tick. These distributed systems can span hundreds of miles, demand precise synchronization to ensure uninterrupted functionality. Without precise time synchronization and reliable time signals being supplied to these systems it could cause cataclysmic system failures such as:
- Blackouts on the power grid and massive power outages. Paper
- Disrupting financial markets such as stock markets, finanical transactions and other trading platforms. Here is an example of the Dow “flash crash”
- Interrupt remote robotic surgeries in hospitals, scheduling systems and medical devices used for patient care, monitoring, treatment and diagnosis. Link1,Link2
- Disrupting Telecom operators causing dropped calls and slow internet speed.
- Traffic accidents and delays as traffic management systems depend on precise time synchronization.
It wouldn’t be Armageddon but it would not be a situation that any society could afford to happen. For accurate time synchronization to occur, we need a time source.
Where do we get a time source?
Satellites, mostly or atomic clocks.
Atomic clocks are usually used in places that GPS can’t reach such as underwater oil rigs, military navigation etc.
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| Illustrating how GPS works |
In critical infrastructures, time is typically synchronized with GPS (Global Positioning System), a satellite-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) system. However, a significant problem currently is critical infrastructure’s heavy reliance on GPS, as many of these systems lack backup alternatives, making them vulnerable to disruptions. Furthermore, the security threats posed by GPS are particularly concerning, such as jamming attacks and GPS spoofers which can be created using inexpensive off the shelf equipment with little know-how.
A 2019 study estimated that if a 30 day GPS outage occured on several critical infrastructures it would cost the U.S. economy at least $1 billion per day. Here is the full RTI report.
There is a delicate balance between time synchronization within our critical infrastructures. What can we do about it?
One of the efforts being spearheaded by NIST is to develop non-GPS based alternatives as well as developing systems that distribute time via fiber-optics and radio to back up GPS and bolster resilency.
Governments around the world are making significant strides to building out their own National Timing Grid- a dedicated network that spans the length and breadth of the country dedicated soley to supplying time.
Ireland had also recently launched their own National Timing Grid in Sep 2023. I had the privilege utilizing this network on a recent project. Ireland boasts a high number of atomic clocks which essentially is combined with networking protocols and high-speed links to form a robust a timing infrastructure.
Put simply by David Fleming, NSAI:
Timing is one of the fundamental issues that allows everything to run in harmony
It’s clear that the future of critical infrastructure will be built upon the foundation of resilient timekeeping, providing us with the confidence these vital systems can run in perfect harmony even when facing disruptions.