Managing Automation - November 2008 - (Page 32)

[ SPECIAL REPORT ] networks and applications. Now, ION scans devices to identify vulnerabilities within the system, continuously scans the airwaves to detect malicious activity on the network, and enforces policy and user roles coupled with encryption, authentication, and certificate management. Oak Ridge National Lab evaluated the Apprion architecture and security system. “Theirs is the best I’ve seen at the layered approach,” Manges says. “Each layer has protection, so penetration at one layer doesn’t get you into the next layer.” ROOT OF THE PROBLEM While it’s extremely important for manufacturers to layer in new security measures and management strategies, some ven- Some vendors are attacking the dors are attacking the security problem security problem right at the source right at the source — that is, in the devices themselves and in the network — that is, in the devices themselves equipment. and in the network equipment. Mocana has developed a device security framework, comprising about 20 products, “If you put a new cyber-security firewall all of which act locally, at the device level. into the plant and suddenly the plant stops That is, security is embedded into equipment working because the firewall is programmed such as handheld devices and instrumentaincorrectly, now you’ve created a new failure tion. The Mocana framework includes semode,” Manges says, and a new security hole. cure remote access, secure data communiUltimately, manufacturers need security cation, device identity management, to be built-in: built-in to the devices, to the authentication, and simplified key managenetwork, to the applications, and to the ment. It has been incorporated into network perimeter. Then, and only then, will they equipment and devices by partners, including start to feel secure. ■ Cisco, Honeywell, Motorola, and Siemens. The goal is to make security within the managingautomation.com end devices transparent, so that the end users — some of whom already assume the RELATED ARTICLES: systems are secure — have one less thing to Locking onto Cyber-Security think about. www.managingautomation.com/cybersecurity “When security is done right, it doesn’t Breaking Down Walls impact the end user other than having the www.managingautomation.com/breakingwalls benefit of a secure system,” Mocana CTO The Mobile Enterprise — Needed: Greater James Blaisdell says. Reliability www.managingautomation.com/mobile2 Motorola, for example, provides Mocana Apprion Inc.: Managing All Wireless device security in its Symbol handheld deNetworks from One Platform vices. And it continues to build security into www.managingautomation.com/wirelessnets the infrastructure. To that end, the company recently acquired AirDefense, a maker of COMPANIES MENTIONED: wireless intr usion prevention ser vices Apprion Inc. (WIPS), in order to build security into RF www.managingautomation.com/apprion switches that control its 802.11 network Invensys Process Systems infrastructure. www.managingautomation.com/invensys “It is the primary level of defense,” says Mocana Inc www.managingautomation.com/mocana Paul Finlay, principal, Industr y Solutions Group at Motorola Enterprise. “You want to Motorola www.managingautomation.com/motorola know your primary layer of defense is built into your network and is not merely an add-on Top Layer Networks www.managingautomation.com/toplayer that you have to constantly keep updating.” Even with all of this new technology, much of which is designed to repel external security attacks, industr y experts say the biggest threat is often internal and not the result of deliberate or malicious actions. Rather, they say, plant technology managers can actually introduce more vulnerabilities into the system if they fail to integrate security technology seamlessly into the production environment. “From the end-user perspective, it is still an uptime issue,” Oak Ridge National Lab’s Manges says. “We have to look at cybersecurity in the same way we look at any other failure mode.” Putting in technology without understanding how it will interact with the existing infrastructure could be more hurtful than helpful, he says. maonline ma November 32 2008 http://www.managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/cybersecurity http://www.managingautomation.com/breakingwalls http://www.managingautomation.com/mobile2 http://www.managingautomation.com/wirelessnets http://www.managingautomation.com/apprion http://www.managingautomation.com/invensys http://www.managingautomation.com/mocana http://www.managingautomation.com/motorola http://www.managingautomation.com/toplayer

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - November 2008

Managing Automation - November 2008 Contents Take 1 At One-Year Mark, Wonderware President Focuses on Empowering Plant Operators Oracle Demos Fusio Apps, Reveals Delays Baan Founder Says BPM Will Replace ERP Emerson Talks Wireless at Annual User Group Event Merger Complete, Intercim Focuses on Collaboration Notes Cover Story: The New Supply Chain Reality Special Report: Keep Out Integration: The On-Demand Interchange Industries: Ending the Endless Waves of Paper Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - November 2008

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