PLC Hardening and Firmware Integrity

SEC 110 'PLC Hardening and Firmware Integrity' equips technicians with critical competencies to safeguard industrial automation devices. Focusing on proactive security measures, the course delves into fundamental principles of controller hardening, including physical and logical access controls, network segmentation, and secure configuration practices. Students will explore secure boot processes, understand cryptographic verification techniques for firmware integrity, and develop effective strategies for managing and restoring secure backups. Emphasizing vendor-neutral concepts and practical application, this course prepares individuals to maintain the resilience, reliability, and security of operational technology (OT) environments, mitigating risks associated with unauthorized access, tampering, and data corruption in critical infrastructure.

InstructorJacob Calhoun

Prerequisites

SEC 101

Course outline

Lectures, virtual labs, and graded assignments — completed in your browser.

01Lesson 1: Introduction to PLC Security and Cyber Threatslecture

02Lesson 2: Principles of Industrial Control System (ICS) Hardeninglecture

03Lesson 3: Physical and Environmental Security for Controllerslecture

04Hands-on Lab: Assessing Physical Security Vulnerabilitieslab

05Lesson 5: Network Segmentation and Secure Communication Protocolslecture

06Lesson 6: Secure Configuration Management and Access Controllecture

07Lesson 7: Understanding Secure Boot Processes and Trust Chainslecture

08Hands-on Lab: Exploring Secure Boot and Initial Configurationlab

09Lesson 9: Cryptographic Principles for Firmware Integritylecture

10Lesson 10: Firmware Verification and Supply Chain Securitylecture

11Hands-on Lab: Implementing Firmware Verification Procedureslab

12Lesson 12: Data Backup and Restoration Strategies for Controllerslecture

13Lesson 13: Incident Response Planning for Firmware Compromiselecture

14Capstone Service Project: Developing a Hardening and Firmware Integrity Planassignment

Syllabus

["Week 1: Lesson 1: Introduction to PLC Security and Cyber Threats","Week 2: Lesson 2: Principles of Industrial Control System (ICS) Hardening","Week 3: Lesson 3: Physical and Environmental Security for Controllers","Week 4: Hands-on Lab: Assessing Physical Security Vulnerabilities","Week 5: Lesson 5: Network Segmentation and Secure Communication Protocols","Week 6: Lesson 6: Secure Configuration Management and Access Control","Week 7: Lesson 7: Understanding Secure Boot Processes and Trust Chains","Week 8: Hands-on Lab: Exploring Secure Boot and Initial Configuration","Week 9: Lesson 9: Cryptographic Principles for Firmware Integrity","Week 10: Lesson 10: Firmware Verification and Supply Chain Security","Week 11: Hands-on Lab: Implementing Firmware Verification Procedures","Week 12: Lesson 12: Data Backup and Restoration Strategies for Controllers","Week 13: Lesson 13: Incident Response Planning for Firmware Compromise","Week 14: Capstone Service Project: Developing a Hardening and Firmware Integrity Plan"]