Development and Analysis of P2SCP: A Paradigm for Penetration Testing of Systems that Cannot be Subjected to the Risk of Penetration Testing

Abstract: Penetration testing increases the security of systems through tasking testers to 'think like the adversary' and attempt to find the ways that an attacker would break into the system. For many systems, this can be conducted in a safe and controlled way; however, some systems are so critical to human life and safety that the risk of their failure or disablement due to active penetration testing cannot be assumed. These systems are also critical to evaluate the security of, to prevent attackers from disabling them or causing their maloperation; however, this must be done in a manner that doesn't risk the very malady that testing seeks to avoid through the testing process itself. This paper presents P2SCP, a paradigm for penetration testing of systems that cannot be subjected to the risk of penetration testing. It discusses how data collection, the creation of digital twins and cousins and evaluative analysis can be utilized to conduct virtual penetration tests on critical infrastructure systems. This proposed paradigm is analyzed through the use of several case studies.