Integrating Cyber Physical System Security Concepts in Computer System Security Curriculum

Cyber physical systems (CPS) are becoming increasingly prevalent in our daily lives, from connected vehicles and medical devices to critical infrastructure systems. As there is growing emphasis both in industry and academia on the security aspects of CPS, students should have sufficient foundational knowledge about these topics as they transition into their professional careers. This manuscript describes the integration of modern CPS security concepts into the traditional required Computer System Security undergraduate course at Texas State University. Content is introduced through a group course project, where students reviewed and replicated results from a recent relevant CPS security paper. Papers were self-selected by groups based upon ten recommendations covering content from emerging CPS security topics, such as connected vehicle security and industrial IoT. Based upon the success of this initial implementation, future efforts to expand the scope of CPS coverage in future course iterations are proposed.