MID-032: System Service Availability Manager

Mitigation Tier: Foundational

Description

Methods to monitor and restart services, such as software and hardware-based watchdogs, can add additional resilience and prevent devices from falling into complete deadlock states or failing. This is because these mechanisms will monitor and send restart service signals that will ensure that critical processes cannot die indefinitely. Additionally, if a device cannot safely have its services restarted, these monitors can be used to alert users about device-level activity.

IEC 62443 4-2 Mappings

• CR 7.1 – Denial of service protection

CR 7.2 – Resource management

References

[1] K. Odom. “What Is a Watchdog Timer and Why Is It Important?” ti.com. Accessed: Aug. 28, 2024. [Online.] Available: https://www.ti.com/lit/ta/ssztah7/ssztah7.pdf

[2] DigiKey’s North American Editors. “Improving IoT System Robustness Using Watchdog Timers.” digikey.com. Accessed: Aug. 28, 2024. [Online.] Available: https://www.digikey.com/en/articles/improving-iot-system-robustness-using-watchdog-timers

[3] MITRE. “Watchdog Timers.” mitre.org. Accessed: Aug. 28, 2024. [Online.] Available: https://attack.mitre.org/mitigations/M0815/

MID-032