A Comprehensive Survey on Digital Twin: Focusing on Security Threats and Requirements

Digital Twin (DT) aims to seamlessly replicate physical objects or processes in virtual environments, garnering attention for supporting diverse intelligent management services such as monitoring, analysis, and control. Integration with technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, edge...

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Main Authors: Hyeran Mun, Kyusuk Han, Ernesto Damiani, Hyun Ku Yeun, Tae-Yeon Kim, Luigi Martino, Chan Yeob Yeun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10974949/
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author Hyeran Mun
Kyusuk Han
Ernesto Damiani
Hyun Ku Yeun
Tae-Yeon Kim
Luigi Martino
Chan Yeob Yeun
author_facet Hyeran Mun
Kyusuk Han
Ernesto Damiani
Hyun Ku Yeun
Tae-Yeon Kim
Luigi Martino
Chan Yeob Yeun
author_sort Hyeran Mun
collection DOAJ
description Digital Twin (DT) aims to seamlessly replicate physical objects or processes in virtual environments, garnering attention for supporting diverse intelligent management services such as monitoring, analysis, and control. Integration with technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, edge computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) has propelled the development of DTs. However, the DT may not only introduce new potential security flaws but also inherit existing vulnerabilities from the technologies they incorporate and interact with due to their integration with diverse technologies. Despite its growing impact, research addressing the security concerns of DTs remains insufficient and still in its early stages. In this article, we provide a comprehensive and in-depth review of the current state of DTs, focusing on their security aspects. We first depict an overview of DTs, including the definition of the DT and various DT applications, and then present the architecture for DTs. Subsequently, we conduct a detailed examination of security attacks and threats across the functional layers of the DT architecture. In contrast to the previous surveys on DTs, we derive security properties and security functional requirements (SFRs) based on the Common Criteria (CC) standard for mitigating these attacks and threats. We also introduce technologies that enable the achievement of SFRs with a future research perspective. By addressing these critical security aspects, our article enhances the security and trustworthiness of DTs, contributing to their safe and reliable deployment in various domains.
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spelling doaj-art-d849e496b7844ef3a7fc70c914910e362025-08-20T01:48:20ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113733627339010.1109/ACCESS.2025.356362110974949A Comprehensive Survey on Digital Twin: Focusing on Security Threats and RequirementsHyeran Mun0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5238-2392Kyusuk Han1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8734-3107Ernesto Damiani2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9557-6496Hyun Ku Yeun3Tae-Yeon Kim4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4743-6023Luigi Martino5Chan Yeob Yeun6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1398-952XDepartment of Computer Science, Center for Cyber-Physical Systems, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesSecure System Research Center (SSRC), Technology Innovation Institute (TII), Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Computer Science, Center for Cyber-Physical Systems, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesSchool of Engineering and Technology, Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Computer Science, Center for Cyber-Physical Systems, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Computer Science, Center for Cyber-Physical Systems, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDigital Twin (DT) aims to seamlessly replicate physical objects or processes in virtual environments, garnering attention for supporting diverse intelligent management services such as monitoring, analysis, and control. Integration with technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, edge computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) has propelled the development of DTs. However, the DT may not only introduce new potential security flaws but also inherit existing vulnerabilities from the technologies they incorporate and interact with due to their integration with diverse technologies. Despite its growing impact, research addressing the security concerns of DTs remains insufficient and still in its early stages. In this article, we provide a comprehensive and in-depth review of the current state of DTs, focusing on their security aspects. We first depict an overview of DTs, including the definition of the DT and various DT applications, and then present the architecture for DTs. Subsequently, we conduct a detailed examination of security attacks and threats across the functional layers of the DT architecture. In contrast to the previous surveys on DTs, we derive security properties and security functional requirements (SFRs) based on the Common Criteria (CC) standard for mitigating these attacks and threats. We also introduce technologies that enable the achievement of SFRs with a future research perspective. By addressing these critical security aspects, our article enhances the security and trustworthiness of DTs, contributing to their safe and reliable deployment in various domains.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10974949/Digital twin (DT)cyber twin (CT)common criteria (CC)cybersecurityprivacysecurity requirements
spellingShingle Hyeran Mun
Kyusuk Han
Ernesto Damiani
Hyun Ku Yeun
Tae-Yeon Kim
Luigi Martino
Chan Yeob Yeun
A Comprehensive Survey on Digital Twin: Focusing on Security Threats and Requirements
IEEE Access
Digital twin (DT)
cyber twin (CT)
common criteria (CC)
cybersecurity
privacy
security requirements
title A Comprehensive Survey on Digital Twin: Focusing on Security Threats and Requirements
title_full A Comprehensive Survey on Digital Twin: Focusing on Security Threats and Requirements
title_fullStr A Comprehensive Survey on Digital Twin: Focusing on Security Threats and Requirements
title_full_unstemmed A Comprehensive Survey on Digital Twin: Focusing on Security Threats and Requirements
title_short A Comprehensive Survey on Digital Twin: Focusing on Security Threats and Requirements
title_sort comprehensive survey on digital twin focusing on security threats and requirements
topic Digital twin (DT)
cyber twin (CT)
common criteria (CC)
cybersecurity
privacy
security requirements
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10974949/
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