The Research Center on Cyber-physical Systems Security (SecCPS) at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) promotes education, research, development, and innovation activities on topics related to the Security of Cyber-physical Systems and mostly motivated by the growing exposure of Critical Infrastructure Systems to cyberattacks.

In order to cope with the accelerated digital transformation our planet is going through, Critical Infrastructure Systems are getting more and more connected and thus benefit from Information and Communication Technologies that allow them to operate more efficiently and sustainably. However, these changes in the way we manage energy, water and food supplies, industrial production, logistics, transportation and telecommunication render such Critical Infrastructure Systems far more susceptible to cyberattacks than when they used to be isolated. Ordinary IT Security measures often fall short in this scenario, where traditional isolation techniques do not apply and security breaches give attackers access to physical actuators. Fortunately, many Critical Infrastructure elements are Cyber-physical and this brings a whole new dimension to applicable security mechanisms, which go beyond cryptography and reach for physical conformance, safety, fault-tolerance and dependability.