Esslingen University of Applied Sciences is expanding its research profile in the field of digital security: With the establishment of the Institute for Secure Networked Systems (ISNS), research on network security, industrial communication, and the protection of critical infrastructures will henceforth be consolidated within a dedicated organizational unit. Networked IT systems today form the backbone of industry, energy supply, mobility, and public administration. At the same time, the demands placed on their security are continuously increasing. Cyberattacks, software vulnerabilities, and new technological developments such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing pose growing challenges for operators and manufacturers. The ISNS addresses these issues with a clear technical focus. Its research areas range from the global monitoring of attack trends and vulnerabilities to securing industrial real-time networks, as well as security mechanisms for IoT and edge systems and strategies for quantum-resistant cryptography. A particular emphasis is placed on practical solutions for long-lived and heterogeneous infrastructures, as typically found in industrial and production environments.

The institute emerged from the former Network Security Group, which in recent years has already carried out numerous externally funded projects and research activities in the field of IT security. With the formal establishment of the institute, these activities are now structurally anchored and made more visible across the university. “Networked systems are today central lifelines of our economy — and at the same time attractive targets for attacks,” says Prof. Dr. Tobias Heer, Director of the Institute. “With the ISNS, we aim not only to analyze security problems theoretically, but to develop concrete, technically feasible solutions for real-world infrastructures. Our goal is to consider security from the very beginning and to design systems that are resilient in the long term.”

In addition to research, the promotion of early-career researchers also plays a key role. Several doctoral candidates work at the institute on current challenges in network security and contribute to the close integration of research, teaching, and knowledge transfer. With the new institute, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences strengthens its position as a research hub in the field of cybersecurity and creates a central point of contact for cooperation with industry, public authorities, and academic partners.

Our publication “Detecting QoS Degradation in Time-Critical Networks due to Misconfiguration or Attacks” received the Best Paper Award for Automation Technology at ETFA 2025, the 30th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation. The authors are Lukas Bechtel, Lukas Popperl, Michael Menth, and Tobias Heer.

The authors demonstrated how anomalies caused by cyberattacks, misconfigurations, or unusual device behavior can be detected. Instead of inspecting packet contents, the system analyzes temporal patterns, enabling the detection of anomalies that impair network reliability.

In addition, we presented two further work-in-progress papers at ETFA 2025:

• Sabrina Kaniewski presented our approach to semi-automated micro-segmentation of industrial networks: “Security Gateway for Automated Micro-Segmentation and VPN Encryption in Industrial Legacy Systems.” The solution addresses the secure integration and segmentation of legacy industrial systems that currently offer little in terms of built-in security mechanisms.
• Lukas Bechtel presented a concept developed jointly with Markus Schramm for a time-limited firewall specifically tailored to TSN and DetNet traffic: “Time-Limited Software Firewall Based on DPDK Supporting TSN and DetNet Traffic.” The idea enables firewall rules to be applied with temporal constraints — an ideal fit for deterministic production environments.