EmuFlex: A Flexible OT Testbed for Security Experiments with OPC UA

Modern communication standards for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) like the Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA) were developed with security in mind. However, their correct implementation in operational technology (OT) environments is often neglected due to a lack of appropriate monetary and human resources, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises. We present a flexible, inexpensive, and easy to use testbed enabling OT operators to experiment with different security scenarios. Our testbed is purely virtual so that procurement and construction of physical or hybrid test environments is not required. It can be operated as a web-hosted service and leverages Docker as well as OPC UA. The testbed therefore combines usability and support for modern technologies enabling future-oriented security studies as well as flexible usage across verticals and company boundaries.