Resilient Physics-Informed Cyber-Defense (RPICD): Safeguarding NextGeneration Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems Against Sensor Spoofing and AI-Driven Adversarial Manipulation

Abstract

Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are increasingly evolving into highly interconnected, information-rich, and intelligent infrastructures that integrate operational technology with enterprise networks and cloud-based services. While this transformation improves operational efficiency and automation, it also significantly expands the cyber-attack surface, exposing critical infrastructure to sophisticated threats such as sensor spoofing, AI-driven adversarial manipulation, false data injection, and coordinated cyber-physical attacks. This paper presents Resilient Physics-Informed Cyber-Defense (RPICD), a conceptual framework for enhancing the security and survivability of next-generation industrial CPS. The framework emphasizes the integration of physics-aware reasoning with cyber-defense mechanisms to detect, interpret, and mitigate attacks that compromise both cyber and physical processes. Five fundamental security challenges are examined: reliable interpretation of heterogeneous cyber-physical data, secure information and control sharing across interconnected systems, containment of compromised components, preservation of real-time operational requirements during attacks, and validation of adaptive defense mechanisms in safety-critical environments. The study discusses potential research directions, including intelligent reasoning systems, survivability architectures, federated security models, real-time authentication techniques, and model-based validation strategies. Rather than pursuing absolute security, the proposed approach advocates resilient system design capable of maintaining safe and reliable operation despite sophisticated adversarial activities. The presented framework provides a foundation for future research toward secure, adaptive, and trustworthy industrial cyber-physical infrastructures capable of withstanding emerging AI-enabled cyber threats.