Vikash Katta

• Awotunde, Joseph Bamidele; Misra, Sanjay; Katta, Vikash & Adebayo, Oluwafemi Charles (2023). An Ensemble-Based Hotel Reviews System Using Naive Bayes Classifier. CMES - Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences. ISSN 1526-1492. 137(1), p. 131–154. doi: 10.32604/cmes.2023.026812. Full text in Research Archive
• Chockalingam, Sabarathinam & Katta, Vikash (2020). Developing a Bayesian Network Framework for Root Cause Analysis of Observable Problems in Cyber-Physical Systems, 2019 IEEE Conference on Information and Communication Technology . IEEE conference proceedings. ISSN 978-1-7281-5398-8. p. 1–6. doi: 10.1109/CICT48419.2019.9066167. Show summary

  Because critical infrastructures rely on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs), appropriate response to problems in such infrastructures operated by CPSs is important. Firstly, it is essential for decision-makers to be able to determine whether the observed problem is due to an attack or technical failure. In previous work, we developed a framework for building Bayesian Network (BN) models to enable decision-makers to determine whether the observed problem is due to an attack or technical failure. However, this information alone is not adequate to choose effective response strategies for the observed problem. It is also essential for the decision-makers to be able to determine the most likely attack vector used to cause the observed problem or failure mode caused the observed problem to choose effective response strategies. However, the decision support to determine the most likely root cause for an observed problem is missing. In this paper, we develop a framework for building BN models to enable decisionmakers to determine the most likely root cause of problems. We demonstrate the developed framework using an example problem in smart grids.

• Abbas, Khurshid; Chockalingam, Sabarathinam; Dinh, Nga & Katta, Vikash (2020). A Prototype Tool for Distinguishing Attacks and Technical Failures in Industrial Control Systems. Norsk Informasjonssikkerhetskonferanse (NISK). ISSN 1893-6563. 13(3). Show summary

  Critical Infrastructures (CIs) are governed by Industrial Control Systems (ICSs). Modern ICSs do not operate in isolation anymore, but they are connected to the Internet. This transformation introduced numerous advantages, however, there are a few drawbacks as well. Integration with the Internet has left ICS exposed to potential cyber-attacks. Additionally, ICSs could also encounter technical failures during operation. Consequently, it is crucial to distinguish between attacks and technical failures to initiate an appropriate response. There is a deficiency of robust technology to assist operators in distinguishing attacks and technical failures in an ICS environment. However, a framework is proposed to construct Bayesian Network (BN) models that would help to distinguish between attacks and technical failures for different observable problems in our previous work. There are tools available to implement such BN models, but these tools are not appropriate to use in an ICS environment. In order to address this limitation, this paper develops and demonstrates a prototype tool for swift identification of the major cause (Intentional Attack/Accidental Technical Failure) in case of an abnormal behaviour in a component of ICS. The proposed tool enables BN models to automatically update prior probabilities based on the historical data and/or expert knowledge corresponding to the application. The developed tool can be further evaluated and used to distinguish between attacks and technical failures during operation in CIs where ICSs are employed.

• Nystad, Espen; Katta, Vikash & Simensen, John (2020). What happens in a control room during a cybersecurity attack?: Preliminary observations from a pilot study. In Rothermel, Gregg & Bae, Doo-Hwan (Ed.), ICSEW'20: Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM 42nd International Conference on Software Engineering Workshops. ACM Publications. ISSN 978-1-4503-7963-2. p. 270–275. doi: 10.1145/3387940.3391454.
• Pokhrel, Abhishek; Katta, Vikash & Colomo-Palacios, Ricardo (2020). Digital Twin for Cybersecurity Incident Prediction: A Multivocal Literature Review. In Rothermel, Gregg & Bae, Doo-Hwan (Ed.), ICSEW'20: Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM 42nd International Conference on Software Engineering Workshops. ACM Publications. ISSN 978-1-4503-7963-2. p. 671–678. doi: https:/doi.org/10.1145/3387940.3392199.
• Reegård, Kine; Blackett, Claire & Katta, Vikash (2019). The Concept of Cybersecurity Culture. In Beer, Michael & Zio, Enrico (Ed.), Proceedings of the 29th European Safety and Reliability Conference(ESREL). 22 – 26 September 2019 Hannover, Germany . Research Publishing Services. ISSN 978-981-11-2724-3. p. 4036–4044. doi: 10.3850/978-981-11-2724-3_0761-cd.
• Katta, Vikash; Sechi, Fabien; Jørgensen, Per-Arne; Strand, Stine; Wiig, Per Axel & Simensen, John Eidar [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2019). Establishing a cybersecurity centre for industrial control systems. In Beer, Michael & Zio, Enrico (Ed.), Proceedings of the 29th European Safety and Reliability Conference(ESREL). 22 – 26 September 2019 Hannover, Germany . Research Publishing Services. ISSN 978-981-11-2724-3. doi: 10.3850/978-981-11-2724-3_0528-cd.
• Valkonen, Janne; Tommila, Teemu; Linnosmaa, Joonas; Karpati, Peter & Katta, Vikash (2017). Demonstrating and argumenting safety of I&C systems – challenges and recent experiences. In X, X (Eds.), Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies (NPIC&HMIT 2017), San Francisco, CA, June 11-15, 2017. Proceedings . American Nuclear Society. ISSN 978-0-89448-743-9. p. 568–580.
• Katta, Vikash; Raspotnig, Christian; Karpati, Peter & Stålhane, Tor (2015). Investigating fulfilment of traceability requirements in a combined process for safety and security assessments. International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems. ISSN 1757-8779. 6(2), p. 100–132. doi: 10.1504/IJCCBS.2015.073530.
• Katta, Vikash; Raspotnig, Christian & Stålhane, Tor (2015). Application of an approach for traceability during safety systems development project documentation. In Podofillini, Luca; Sudret, Bruno; Stojadinovic, Bozidar; Zio, Enrico & Kröder, Wolfgang (Ed.), Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems. CRC Press. ISSN 9781138028791. doi: 10.1201/b19094-527. Show summary

  Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems contains the Proceedings of the 25th European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2015, held 7-10 September 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. It includes about 570 papers accepted for presentation at the conference. These contributions focus on theories and methods in the area of risk, safety and reliability, and their applications to a wide range of industrial, civil and social sectors. The main goal of this book is to showcase the advancements in understanding, modeling and management of complex engineered systems. The book offers a multidisciplinary platform to address technological, societal and financial aspects of system safety and reliability. Emphasis is given to the intra- and interdependencies of functions and the cascading failures that characterize complex engineered systems. Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems (abstracts book 730 pages + full paper CD-ROM 4634 pages) will be of interest to academics and professionals involved or interested in aspect of risk, safety and reliability in various engineering areas.

• Karpati, Peter; Hauge, André A; Katta, Vikash & Raspotnig, Christian (2015). Safety demonstration challenges and recommendations in the nuclear field. In Podofillini, Luca; Sudret, Bruno; Stojadinovic, Bozidar; Zio, Enrico & Kröder, Wolfgang (Ed.), Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems. CRC Press. ISSN 9781138028791. Show summary

  Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems contains the Proceedings of the 25th European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2015, held 7-10 September 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. It includes about 570 papers accepted for presentation at the conference. These contributions focus on theories and methods in the area of risk, safety and reliability, and their applications to a wide range of industrial, civil and social sectors. The main goal of this book is to showcase the advancements in understanding, modeling and management of complex engineered systems. The book offers a multidisciplinary platform to address technological, societal and financial aspects of system safety and reliability. Emphasis is given to the intra- and interdependencies of functions and the cascading failures that characterize complex engineered systems. Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems (abstracts book 730 pages + full paper CD-ROM 4634 pages) will be of interest to academics and professionals involved or interested in aspect of risk, safety and reliability in various engineering areas.

• Katta, Vikash & Stålhane, Tor (2014). Survey protocol: Traceability during development of systems with safety and security implications - Importance, tools, and challenges. CEUR Workshop Proceedings. ISSN 1613-0073. 1138, p. 101–106.
• Katta, Vikash; Stålhane, Tor & Raspotnig, Christian (2014). Presenting a traceability based approach for safety argumentation. In Steenbergen, Raphaël; van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M.; Miraglia, S. & Vrouwenvelder, A.C.W.M. (Ed.), Safety, reliability and risk analysis : beyond the horizon : proceedings of the European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2013, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 29 September-2 October 2013. CRC Press. ISSN 978-1-138-00123-7. p. 2037–2046. doi: 10.1201/b15938-308.
• Raspotnig, Christian; Katta, Vikash; Karpati, Peter & Opdahl, Andreas Lothe (2013). Enhancing CHASSIS: A Method for Combining Safety and Security. In Guerrero, Juan E. (Eds.), 2013 Eighth International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES), Regensburg, 2-6 September 2013. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). ISSN 978-0-7695-5008-4. p. 766–773. doi: 10.1109/ares.2013.102.
• Katta, Vikash; Raspotnig, Christian; Karpati, Peter & Stålhane, Tor (2013). Requirements management in a combined process for safety and security assessments. In Guerrero, Juan E. (Eds.), 2013 Eighth International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES), Regensburg, 2-6 September 2013. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). ISSN 978-0-7695-5008-4. p. 780–786. doi: 10.1109/ares.2013.104.
• Raspotnig, Christian & Katta, Vikash (2013). Applying a security conceptual model for coverage analysis. Elsevier IFAC Publications / IFAC Proceedings series. ISSN 1474-6670. 7(1), p. 2128–2133. doi: 10.3182/20130619-3-RU-3018.00093.
• Raspotnig, Christian; Karpati, Peter & Katta, Vikash (2012). A combined process for elicitation and analysis of safety and security requirements. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. ISSN 1865-1348. 113, p. 347–361. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-31072-0_24.
• Raspotnig, Christian; Katta, Vikash; Roen, Harald; Disen, Kjersti & Kaasa, Stian (2010). Challenges of Improving Safety for ATM Software Intensive Systems. In Simmons, Rodney (Eds.), 28th International System Safety Conference Proceedings. System Safety Society, Inc.. ISSN 0-9721385-9-5. p. 9–16.
• Lee, Jang-Soo; Katta, Vikash; Jee, Eun-Kyoung & Raspotnig, Christian (2010). Means-ends and whole-part traceability analysis of safety requirements. Journal of Systems and Software. ISSN 0164-1212. 83(9), p. 1612–1621. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2009.08.022.
• Katta, Vikash; Karpati, Peter; Opdahl, Andreas Lothe; Raspotnig, Christian & Sindre, Guttorm (2010). Comparing two techniques for intrusion visualization. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. ISSN 1865-1348. 68, p. 1–15. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16782-9_1. Show summary

  Various techniques have been proposed to model attacks on systems. In order to understand such attacks and thereby propose efficient mitigations, the sequence of steps in the attack should be analysed thoroughly. However, there is a lack of techniques to represent intrusion scenarios across a system architecture. This paper proposes a new technique called misuse sequence diagrams (MUSD). MUSD represents the sequence of attacker interactions with system components and how they were misused over time by exploiting their vulnerabilities. The paper investigates MUSD in a controlled experiment with 42 students, comparing it with a similar technique called misuse case maps (MUCM). The results suggest that the two mostly perform equally well and they are complementary regarding architectural issues and temporal sequences of actions though MUSD was perceived more favourably.

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• Chockalingam, Sabarathinam & Katta, Vikash (2019). Using Bayesian Networks for Root Cause Analysis of Observable Problems in Cyber-Physical Systems. Show summary

  Modern societies rely on proper functioning of Critical Infrastructures (CIs) in different sectors such as energy, transportation, and water management which is vital for economic growth and societal wellbeing. Over the years, CIs have become dependent on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) to ensure efficient operations, which are responsible for monitoring and steering processes as, among others, electric power generation, automotive production, and flood control. Such systems are susceptible to both attacks [1] and technical failures [2]. Because of modern societies’ dependence on CPSs, adequate response to observable problems is essential. In order to select appropriate response strategies, it is crucial for decision-makers to be able to distinguish between attacks and technical failures. Once they can distinguish between attacks and technical failures, it is also important for decision-makers to be able to determine the most likely root cause (for instance, the attack vector used to cause an observable problem) to select appropriate response strategies. In most cases, the initiation of a response strategy, presumably aimed at technical failures, would be ineffective in the event of a targeted attack and may lead to further complications. For instance, replacing a sensor that is sending incorrect measurement data with a new sensor would be a suitable response strategy to technical failure of the sensor. However, this may not be an appropriate response strategy to an attack on the sensor, as it would not block the corresponding attack vector. If the decision-makers could determine that the observable problem was due to an attack, the appropriate response strategies to block each attack vector could be different. For instance, the appropriate response strategy for a data manipulation attack on the sensor could be different from physical tampering of the sensor. The initiation of inappropriate response strategies would delay the recovery of the system from adversaries and might lead to harmful consequences. Noticeably, there is a lack of decision support to determine the most likely root cause of observable problems. Bayesian Networks (BNs) have the capacity to tackle this challenge especially based on their real-world applications in medical diagnosis [3] and fault diagnosis [4]. In our previous work, we developed a framework for constructing BN models to enable decision-makers to distinguish between attacks and technical failures [5]. However, this framework is incomplete without the capability to determine the most likely root cause of observable problems. In this work, we use BNs to tackle the challenge of determining the most likely root cause of observable problems as they enable diagnostic reasoning. Firstly, we propose a framework for constructing BN models to determine the most likely root cause of observable problems. We customised and utilised three different types of variables from existing diagnostic BN models which constitutes our framework. Furthermore, we demonstrated the use of the proposed framework using an example in smart grids. Finally, we highlight the challenges and future research directions.

• Hauge, André A; Katta, Vikash; Karpati, Peter & Gran, Bjørn Axel (2018). Safety Demonstration – A Strategy for Assessors.
• Stålhane, Tor; Myklebust, Thor & Katta, Vikash (2014). Change Impact Analysis in Agile Development.
• Stålhane, Tor; Katta, Vikash & Myklebust, Thor (2013). Scrum and IEC 60880.
• Stålhane, Tor; Daramola, Olawande & Katta, Vikash (2012). Patterns in Safety Analysis.
• Katta, Vikash & Stålhane, Tor (2011). A Conceptual Model of Traceability for Safety Systems.

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