Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSes) form the core of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and critical infrastructures. These systems use computers to control and monitor physical processes in many critical industries including aviation, industrial automation, transportation, communications, waste treatment, and power systems. Increasingly, these systems are connected with corporate networks and the Internet, making them susceptible to risks similar to traditional computing systems experiencing cyber-attacks on a conventional IT network. Furthermore, recent attacks like the Stuxnet worm have demonstrated the weaknesses of CPS security, which has gained much attention in the research community to develop more effective security mechanisms. While this remains an important topic of research, often CPS security is not given much attention in undergraduate programs. There can be a significant disconnect between control system engineers with CPS engineering skills and network engineers with an IT background. This thesis describes hands-on courseware to help students bridge this gap. This courseware incorporates cyber-physical security concepts into effective learning modules that highlight real-world technical issues. A modular learning approach helps students understand CPS architectures and their vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks via experiential learning, and acquire practical skills through actively participating in the hands-on exercises. The ultimate goal of these lab modules is to show how an adversary would break into a conventional CPS system by exploiting various network protocols and security measures implemented in the system. A mock testbed environment is created using commercial-off-the-shelf hardware to address the unique aspects of a CPS, and serve as a cybersecurity trainer for students from control system or IT backgrounds. The modular nature of this courseware, which uses an economical and easily replicable hardware testbed, make this experience uniquely available as an adjunct to a conventional embedded system, control system design, or cybersecurity courses. To assess the impact of this courseware, an evaluation survey is developed to measure the understanding of the unique aspects of CPS security addressed. These modules leverage the existing academic subjects, help students understand the sequence of steps taken by adversaries, and serve to bridge theory and practice. / Master of Science

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis is a comparative study of competing education and training (ET) policy options in South Africa today. The thesis examines the economic and ET policy proposals of the South African state, and in particular, the recently published National Training Strategy and Education Renewal Strategy. These documents are both critically examined and contrasted with the policy proposals which are currently emerging in the African National Congress (ANC) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). The analysis establishes a continuum of ET systems, with the policy proposals of the South African state representing a <low-skill equilibrium' system and the Framework for Lifelong Learning document of the ANC/ Cosatu reflecting a more highskill equilibrium' orientation. A <macro-institutional' theoretical perspective is employed throughout the thesis, an approach which combines a focus on the e macro' structural features of capitalist society with an analysis of the vast nexus of interlocking social institutions existing at the sub-structural level. This macro-institutional approach is particularly evident in the manner in which two key theoretical themes have been foregrounded throughout the text. The first has to do with the central macro' question of the market/state relation and its relevance for ET. The second has to do with the e institutional' dynamic of" the interaction between the ET system, the labour market and the organisation of work and the manner in which this interaction mediates the impact of ET on society and economic performance. The strength of the <macro-institutional' perspective is that it emphasises that the reform of ET in isolation of other societal changes is insufficient in the pursuit of higher productivity and improved economic performance. What is essential is comprehensive reform: reforms which impact on a whole range of key institutional locations. This requires coherent and long-term planning, a form of governance most often obtained by consensual co-ordinated market economies and seldom under free market conditions. The conclusion to this thesis suggests that the ANC/ Cosatu economic and ET proposals are more likely to obtain comprehensive reform' of the South African social structure than those proposals emanating from the current state.