A Method to Choose Between Automation and Human Operators for Recovery Actions During a Cyber Attack

As complex systems such as nuclear power plants, naval ships, critical infrastructure, and other systems become more connected to the internet and digital control interfaces, the chance of a cyber attack causing physical damage to a system and failure of the system increases. In many systems, recovery actions can prevent an incipient failure from causing a system-wide failure. This paper presents a method of determining if a human operator or an automated system is more appropriate to complete a recovery action during a cyber attack. The method is useful during the conceptual phase of system design where architecture changes have minimal impact on the cost and schedule of the system design effort. Practitioners can use the method to make cost and probability-informed decisions. A case study of a spent fuel cooling pool in a nuclear power plant is presented to illustrate the method.