Cyber Security Challenges in Complex Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Modern systems are inherently interconnected, with mixed maturity and complex supply chains for software and hardware elements. Advancing cyber threats increasingly exploits vulnerabilities in these capabilities, while global uncertainties create similar risks in supply chains and markets. Systematically identifying these vulnerabilities and risks can help determine whether to increase protections, diversify or consolidate supply and optimise the through-life infrastructure and support needed to manage complex systems. This challenge at each node and discipline is a systems challenge, but, collectively, it is a system of systems challenge for capabilities. Much of the systems research applies modern systems engineering tools and techniques to improving cyber resilience and finding the right balance between meeting cyber threats and commercial profitability. Much cybersecurity research is focused on the automated defence at machine speed of intelligent and adaptive intrusion detection systems; however, this primarily algorithmic work is nascent, likely to be privileged and usually does not address the systems challenges of implementation. More adaptive research approaches use model-based systems engineering and cybersecurity awareness training techniques to analyse and improve, taking on the educational and penetration challenge of such a diverse socio-technical problem. Each domain, and often different counties, especially for their critical infrastructure, must adapt the research, tools and techniques slightly differently based upon their supply footprints, profit margins, societal awareness and exposure to nation-state and criminal threats. This Special Issue concerns systems and socio-technical challenges as well as solutions to achieving greater cyber resilience in complex systems and capabilities. Submissions may be from any critical infrastructure domain or multi-domain as long as they address cyber resilience with a systems approach.

Dr. Keith Joiner
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• cybersecurity
• systems of systems
• critical infrastructure
• model-based systems engineering
• socio-technical systems