Evaluating the Impact of Cyberattacks on PLC Performance: A Systematic Implementation and Empirical Investigation

Programmable Logic Controller plays a pivotal role in the operation of Industrial Control Systems, which are widely used to monitor and control critical infrastructure and manufacturing processes. However, the rise of Industry 4.0, coupled with the increasing sophistication of cyber threats poses a significant risk to the security of PLC. This study implements a wide range of attacks on a PLC, including Code Injection, Man in the Middle, and a Denial-of-Service attack. The study further scrutinizes the impact of these attacks on the performance of the PLC with a view to developing effective security measures to mitigate cyber risks in Operational Technology systems. The study employs throughput and round trip time as the key metrics to evaluate PLC performance under normal conditions and during cyberattacks. The results indicate a significant degradation in the PLC performance metrics during the attacks, with DoS having the highest impact followed by Man in the Middle attack. These results highlight the need for robust cybersecurity measures to secure PLC from potential cyber threats.