Rockwell Automation has collaborated with Cisco to develop a deep-packet-inspection (DPI) technology for use in industrial security appliances.
An industrial firewall with DPI technology extends visibility down to the plant floor, enables logging of traffic patterns, and provides the opportunity for informed decision-making following a set of security policies. Users are able to log a range of data for any network connection or protocol, including where the traffic is coming from, where it is going and the application with which it is associated. Now both plant and IT managers can use the technology to more securely manage network traffic from the plant to the enterprise.
When used between industrial and cell/area zones in a Converged Plantwide Ethernet (CPwE) architecture, a plant-floor application using DPI technology has the ability to instruct a firewall to deny firmware downloads to a controller. This guards against tampering with firmware and helps protect the integrity of the operation. Only an authorised user would be able to conduct the download.
“Security on the plant floor continues to be a top concern for manufacturers and industrial operators as they build a Connected Enterprise,” said Juergen Weinhofer, vice president, common architecture and technology, Rockwell Automation. “DPI technology combines our unmatched automation and information control expertise with that of Cisco, the industry leader in IT security, to enhance security for new and existing industrial control systems.”
“With this security addition to our joint portfolio and architectures, we can help eliminate the ‘air gap’ or ‘security by obscurity’ that leads to false confidence of safety and security,” said Doug Bellin, global industries lead, Cisco. “We can track all network connections in real time and react when issues arise. This is another case of the best of IT and the best of operations coming together to solve a real need.”
Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden