Description
Industrial systems are increasingly exposed to cybersecurity threats due to growing connectivity
and digital integration. A foundational element of securing these environments is a secure
onboarding process, in which newly added devices must be authenticated and provisioned
before they can safely participate in the network. The Secure Zero Touch Provisioning (SZTP)
protocol, developed by the IETF, provides a standardized mechanism for automated and
secure device onboarding without manual intervention. While already adopted in enterprise
networking, its use in industrial settings has not been systematically evaluated. This thesis
investigates the applicability of SZTP in the industrial context by analyzing current implementations,
proposing deployment strategies, and conducting a compliance assessment based on
the IEC 62443 standard. Our evaluation shows that SZTP is a potential candidate for industrial
usage due to its flexible deployment and support for diverse onboarding data. However,
effective adoption in industrial environments requires adaptations from both manufacturers
and operators.
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Thesis topic in co-operation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security AISEC, Garching