If it is valuable to you, it is probably valuable to someone else

World Control Tour stops in Abu Dhabi to talk cyber security threats and v6’s solutions

As you have probably seen, System 800xA is on a bit of a tour. The third World Control Tour event, in Abu Dhabi, recently concluded. I was lucky enough to attend, and wow was it great! We had a specific cyber security seminar and I was really impressed by the interest and understanding that our customers in UAE have around this topic.

Something that we discussed as a group was the notion that all businesses have intelligence worth protecting. The shape and direction of your company’s future is determined by your know-how, ideas and operations – and on your ability to protect them. I’ve worked in network communications and security for over 20 years and I’ve seen the exponential rise of external threats targeting control systems as well as the increased sophistication of the attacks. You’ve seen them in news headlines, too, as more and more mission critical data is targeted. This was understandably a concern of the attendees in Abu Dhabi. System 800xA v6’s security measures helped to quell those concerns.

Control systems like System 800xA have evolved over the past decade thanks to technological advancements. At the heart of these advancements are specialized IT systems. To provide end users with comprehensive real-time information and allow for higher levels of reliability and control, these systems have become more and more interconnected, and thus, more vulnerable. System 800xA v6 was designed with this in mind, and is equipped with ability to protect your investments from all different kinds of security threats.

System 800xA has been designed with cyber security in mind and provides state-of-the-art functionality with for example advanced functions for detailed role based access control and multiple communication protection functions for the AC 800M controllers. In version 6 we are improving some of the previously introduced cyber security features, such as the application whitelisting and the integration with the Industrial Defender offerings. We are also adding new features:

• The system is based on the latest Microsoft operating systems Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 to provide maximum system life time
• Our SW is digitally signed to allow for secure validation of legitimate origin
• We will start redistributing anti-virus definition files for McAfee’s Virus Scan Enterprise
• The customer’s WSUS and McAfee ePO security servers will be able to connect securely to ABB hosted security servers with the validated Microsoft security updates and McAfee anti-virus definition files. This will save both time and reduce potential mistakes when updating the system.
• For 800xA v6 we have also enhanced controller hardening.

Investing in cyber security is one of the best ways to insure your company’s future. One should never take the approach of “fix it when it’s broke” with cyber security. Who can afford taking that kind of chances? You can take control and protect intellectual property against cyber security threats with System 800xA v6. This was a fact very much appreciated by our 130+ attendees in Abu Dhabi.

The 800xA team recently stopped in Sweden to attend Automation Scandinavia, the fourth World Control Tour event. Check back soon for a blog from Jenny Sjödahl covering the event, and discussing the future of automation technology.