Press Release

HyperSecured PLC: Security for Automation Solutions

   

Lemgo, Germany, November 23, 2010 - Under the motto "Security meets Automation", KW-Software and Innominate presented technologies and solutions for industrial network security at the SPS/IPC/DRIVES.

With the HyperSecured PLC, the trend for virtualisation and hardware consolidation for automation users is within practical reach. For the first time, a software PLC and a security appliance were integrated on an embedded IPC with the Hypervisor by technology partner Wind River as virtual machines to form a secured control solution against network attacks. Based on an Intel ATOM Z530 processor, the embedded hardware is divided into two virtualised applications by the Hypervisor. The security application, the virtual mGuard, runs under Linux and monitors communication with the network. The software PLC with Profinet communication runs under VxWorks and communicates with the outside world only through mGuard. A desktop PC is used for IEC 61131 programming and Profinet configuration. The mGuard is configured via the web interface in the browser. Up to now, such control solutions could only be configured with respective dedicated hardware for the PLC and for the security appliance. With the trend to virtualisation, now more cost-effective solutions which are integrated on a CPU can be created. A prerequisite for this are hardware-independent software components and an industrially usable Hypervisor for different processor architectures.

An attack on the HyperSecured PLC, as with Stuxnet on the control technology from Siemens, would have little chance of success, as the virtual mGuard user firewall prevents unauthorised development access to the control and the mGuard Integrity Monitoring procedure would have detected manipulations of the engineering PCs, even through to date unknown malicious software early.

About Innominate Security Technologies AG

Innominate, a Phoenix Contact Company, is a leading supplier of components and solutions for controlled and secured communication in industrial networks. The German company specializes in the protection of networked industrial systems and the secure remote diagnosis and maintenance of machinery and equipment over the Internet. Its mGuard product line of network security appliances provides router, firewall, virtual private network (VPN), as well as quality of service (QoS) functionalities and helps with intrusion detection and antivirus protection. The mGuard portfolio is complemented by a highly scalable device management software. Innominate products are marketed worldwide under the mGuard brand through system integrators and OEM partners.

Further information can be found at www.innominate.com

About KW-Software GmbH

KW Software, a Phoenix Contact company, is the world’s leading manufacturer of IEC 61131 programming and runtime systems in the area of industrial control and automation technology, IEC 61508 security software to SIL3 and technology components for PROFINET integration. Based on the IEC 61131, SAFETY and PROFINET technologies, KW software has developed a scalable software platform for automation devices of all types. The open architecture and variety of off-the-shelf components make each automation system scalable – both in terms of engineering and device runtime.

Further information can be found at www.kw-software.com

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