Collection Overview

Scientific Reports has launched a Guest-Edited Collection on Digital twins for security testing.

Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical systems and are emerging as powerful tools for security testing in cyber-physical and industrial environments. By simulating real-time behaviour, vulnerabilities, and attack scenarios, digital twins enable proactive threat detection, risk assessment, and system hardening without disrupting live operations. Their integration with AI and IoT enhances predictive capabilities and resilience.

This will be a Collection of original research papers and will be open for submissions from all authors – on the condition that the manuscripts fall within the scope of the Collection and of Scientific Reports more generally. We are welcoming submissions until 11th September 2026.

Why is this Collection exciting? 

"Digital twins are rapidly transforming how cyber-physical and industrial systems are designed, monitored, and secured. As manufacturing and critical infrastructures become increasingly connected through IIoT and AI, ensuring their security without disrupting operations is a major challenge. Digital twins provide a safe, high-fidelity environment to simulate cyber-attacks, test vulnerabilities, and evaluate mitigation strategies before deployment. This Collection is exciting because it brings together interdisciplinary advances in modelling, AI, and cybersecurity to enable secure-by-design industrial systems. The insights generated could significantly improve resilience in smart factories and critical infrastructure, making this collection an important platform for researchers advancing next-generation secure digital twin technologies." - Dr. Rishi Kumar

Why submit to a Collection? 

Collections like this one help promote high-quality science. They are led by Guest Editors, who are experts in their fields, and In-House Editors and are supported by a dedicated team of Commissioning Editors and Managing Editors at Springer Nature. Collection manuscripts typically see higher citations, downloads, and Altmetric scores, and provide a one-stop-shop on a cutting-edge topic of interest. 

Who is involved? 

Guest Editors:

• Helge Janicke, Edith Cowan University, Australia
• Rishi Kumar, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, India
• Sanjay Moulik, Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati, India

Internal Team:

• In-House Editor: Dr. Thomas Tischer, Scientific Reports, Germany
• Commissioning Editor: Faija Miah, Fully OA Brands, Springer Nature, UK
• Managing Editor: Chantale Davies, Fully OA Brands, Springer Nature, UK

How can I submit my paper? 

Visit the Collection page to find out more about this Collection and how to submit your article.