Guest Editorial: Security of Communication Protocols in Industrial Control Systems (ICSs)

Over the past decade, the cyber security community has witnessed a trend in which advanced adversaries – such as nation-state actors and cybercriminal groups – are increasingly shifting their exploitation efforts from IT systems to OT and Industrial Control Systems (ICSs). This trend stems from the fact that a compromise of an ICS can have far greater consequences than that of a traditional IT system – potentially resulting not only in financial losses but also losses of human life and/or major environmental disasters.