Critical infrastructure monitoring in CBRNe scenarios: a reliable and robust communication network for distributed multimodal sensors

Abstract The malicious misuse of CBRNe agents can inflict extensive damage to critical infrastructure and terrorize public society. The effects of such attacks can range from financial or structural drawbacks to significant casualties. Recent terror attacks in Cucuta (2021) or Kabul (2021) demonstrate the need to protect infrastructures such as airports, power plants, and transportation infrastructure. In the face of these modern-day threats, the need for a reliable and effective monitoring system for critical infrastructure has become increasingly important. In a first contribution to the long-term development, we present an initial version of a concept that requires the implementation paradigm of diverse redundancy and secure communication using MQTTS relying on the included cipher suite. An initial set of node types is defined and assigned requirements for implementation. The software tools architecture we propose based on these requirements is designed to support network operators and developers by providing standard features for network management and sensor node implementation. This includes the definition of a secure semi-automatic onboarding process for new sensor nodes, which is presented in detail. We strive for independency from specific hardware platforms, software frameworks, and network technologies to enable an open standard for communication within a critical infrastructure sensor network and also between such networks in the future.