Hierarchical Adversarially-Resilient Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Cyber-Physical Systems Security

Abstract: Cyber-Physical Systems play a critical role in the infrastructure of various sectors, including manufacturing, energy distribution, and autonomous transportation systems. However, their increasing connectivity renders them highly vulnerable to sophisticated cyber threats, such as adaptive and zero-day attacks, against which traditional security methods like rule-based intrusion detection and single-agent reinforcement learning prove insufficient. To overcome these challenges, this paper introduces a novel Hierarchical Adversarially-Resilient Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (HAMARL) framework. HAMARL employs a hierarchical structure consisting of local agents dedicated to subsystem security and a global coordinator that oversees and optimizes comprehensive, system-wide defense strategies. Furthermore, the framework incorporates an adversarial training loop designed to simulate and anticipate evolving cyber threats, enabling proactive defense adaptation. Extensive experimental evaluations conducted on a simulated industrial IoT testbed indicate that HAMARL substantially outperforms traditional multi-agent reinforcement learning approaches, significantly improving attack detection accuracy, reducing response times, and ensuring operational continuity. The results underscore the effectiveness of combining hierarchical multi-agent coordination with adversarially-aware training to enhance the resilience and security of next-generation CPS.