Posts Tagged ‘exida’
Friday, February 22, 2013 @ 01:02 PM gHale
Safety and security can work together in a single solution as Emerson Process Management just won a functional safety certification for its DeltaV CHARMS SIS product line.
Emerson earned the certification from exida, an accredited global functional safety certification company that issued a functional safety certification per the IEC 61508 standard along with several application standards.
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“The DeltaV CHARMS SIS is an advanced fault tolerant architecture with great flexibility,” said Dr. William Goble, exida Principal Engineer. “It is also the first design I have seen with cyber security considered in the design.”
CHARMS, which is CHARacterization Module technology, is an electronic marshalling system Emerson introduced a few years back that allows any DeltaV controller to read any input value regardless of where the wiring is landed.
“exida demands a high level of quality and care in both processes and documentation,” says Dave Denison, Emerson project manager. “We selected them due to their technical expertise in functional safety.”
“exida is the only certification body that covers both functional safety and cyber security,” added Keith Bellville, Emerson product marketing manager. “The exida certification will give our customers additional confidence in our products.”
“When we were first thinking about extending electronic marshalling to DeltaV SIS we wanted to be sure that the connectivity of the system was compliant to all cyber security needs,” Bellville said.
“We started with isolating the safety network from the rest of the system and then decided to take our smart switch functionality and layer that on as well. We did this by removing all configuration from the switches and once again using a built for purpose mentality actually ended up with a safety network that requires no user configuration to use. They simply install the DeltaV SIS Local Safety Network switches and start using the system.
“So by isolating the network and providing built for purpose switches the installation cannot be compromised by a rogue connection to a PC or the outside world.”
Goble said he saw designed in features able to understand threat analysis and there was also built in native encryption that would help fend off attackers.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 @ 06:10 PM gHale
By Gregory Hale
Leigh Weber knows there is great potential for injury or death as a result of a cyber incident through an industrial control system.
That is why securing an industrial control system is so important, Weber said during his presentation Tuesday at the Yokogawa 2012 Users Group in New Orleans.
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“While the statistics come from a small sampling, we found 5 percent of incidents resulted in injury or death,” said Weber, senior security engineer at safety and security company, exida.
“There are a lot of people out there that have come up with means and methods to mess up your control system.”
Some of the threats out there are:
• Software bugs
• Malicious software
• Unauthorized physical access
• Unauthorized network access
• Abuse
• Misuse
“Control system security is about preventing intentional and unintentional tampering of systems,” he said.
Over the years, Weber has seen quite a bit and the level of sophistication just continues to keep rising.
“I have been creating software for 40 years and the kinds of attacks people are thinking of now are things we wouldn’t even think of even five years ago,” Weber said.
That means no matter what, control systems remain vulnerable. Not because of the new products that are coming out now, but because legacy systems were up and running long before the idea of cyber attacks was ever a thought in an attacker’s mind.
Weber said to secure an industrial system a user should:
1. Asses existing systems
2. Document policies and procedures
3. Train personnel and contractors
4. Segment the control system network
5. Control access to the system
6. Harden components
7. Monitor and maintain system security
One other way to ensure a system is secure, he said, is to insist vendors comply with a form of security certification, like the ISASecure model.
“If you don’t have a procurement policy that includes security, you won’t get it,” Weber said.
Weber said making sure companies comply and undergo the ISASecure process, will help ensure any system becomes much tougher.
“Security is a lot like political science, where if you have the word science in something, it is not science,” Weber said. “Security is more like art.”
Tuesday, July 10, 2012 @ 04:07 PM gHale
Global supplier of functional safety products, services and certifications, exida, released SILStat.
SILStat is software that helps evaluate risk reduction by collecting and analyzing operation and maintenance data.
The tool captures key operational and maintenance data, including equipment failures, process demands, success or failure of protection layers and proof test results.
The data ends up reviewed and analyzed as required by the IEC 61511/ISA 84.00.01-2004 standard and as part of compliance with an OSHA PSM Mechanical Integrity Program.
Click here for more information.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 @ 10:06 PM gHale
By Nicholas Sheble
“The impact of Stuxnet was threefold, it provided proof of concept for the risk of attack, it exposed corporate executives and the public to the danger of cyber attacks, and it opened the floodgates for cyber security researchers,” cyber security expert John Cusimano said Tuesday.
Cusimano is director of exida’s security services division and has a strong background in process automation safety and security. He presented at the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Assurance Webinar Tuesday.
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Cusimano offered strategies for end users that accent the development of the security lifecycle approach and strategies for suppliers that recommend evaluations and testing of their products as well as third party certification.
The crux of this webinar is the value of third party certification, and in particular that of the ISA Security Compliance Institute. Graham Speake, a principal systems architect at Yokogawa Electric Corporation, spoke to that aspect during the webinar.
Speake is the marketing chair for the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI), co-chair of the International Group for the Industrial Control Systems Joint Working Group, and an editor for the ISA99 standards.
ISCI has developed ISASecure Certification specifications using the framework of the ISA99 standard. The ISASecure program uses the security lifecycle concept for automation controls, organized into three broad lifecycle phases that include:
• Devices and systems – Conform to ISASecure requirements (products constructed to secure characteristics and behaviors)
• Supplier practices – Product development life cycle (design for security)
• User practices – Integration/deployment, operations, life cycle management (manage for security).
The first ISASecure certification, Embedded Device Security Assurance (EDSA) focuses on the security of embedded devices and addresses device characteristics and supplier development practices for those devices.
An embedded device that meets the requirements of the ISASecure EDSA specification earns the ISASecure EDSA certification, a trademarked designation that provides instant recognition of product security characteristics and capabilities, and provides an independent industry stamp of approval similar to a Safety Integrity Level (SIL) Certification.
There are three levels of ISASecure EDSA certification for a device, which reflect increasing levels of device security assurance. All levels of security certification granted under this program contain the following technical elements:
• Functional security assessment
• Software development security assessment
• Communication robustness testing
“So far there are four products that are certified,” said Cusimano. “We want to eventually move beyond certifying devices to certifying entire systems, to a system security assurance certification. This program is under development.”
The webinar also touched on these topics:
• Sources of security incidents
• Examples of industrial cyber security incidents, beyond Stuxnet
• An overview of Project Basecamp results — real results on real systems
• Strategies for end users for improving industrial cyber security and how suppliers can help
• Information about ISA99/IEC62443, Security for Industrial Automation and Control Systems, standard and the necessity for certification to this standard
Some useful resources on the topics of cyber security and device certification are:
American National Standards Institute Accreditation Services – ISASecure.
The Repository of Industrial Security Incidents is a database of incidents of a cyber security nature that threatened process control, industrial automation or supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.
ISASecure Embedded Device Security Assurance Certification. http://www.isasecure.org/Home.aspx
Nicholas Sheble (nsheble@isssource.com) is an engineering writer and technical editor in Raleigh, NC.
Friday, May 18, 2012 @ 12:05 PM gHale
Systems Engineering Consultants’ RTMSafety gained certification for functional safety compliance.
The certification, earned from exida, an accredited global certification company, ensures the middleware for robot automation meets the functional safety requirements for Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 Systematic Capability per IEC 61508.
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“The software development process requirements in IEC 61508 are quite demanding,” said Mike Medoff, senior assessor at Sellersville, PA-based exida. “This helps ensure design quality. Systems Engineering Consultants (SEC) has done a good job meeting these requirements.”
RT Middleware (RTM) is a software platform that supports the construction of networked robotic components to create a robot system.
RTMSafety’s robot software platform is compliant with the IEC 61508 functional safety standard in order to provide functional safety for the robot system. RT system (RTS) is the robot, which combines multiple software modules containing robot functional components.
“SEC has been working with industry groups and robotics societies to promote component standardization, which we believe will eliminate cost issues that have prevented commercialization of robotics,” said Shintaro Sakurai, an executive director in the engineering division of Japan-based SEC.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 @ 07:03 PM gHale
By Nicholas Sheble
“IEC 61508 applies to electrical, electronic, and programmable electronic safety-related systems, but does it also apply to mechanical products? Indeed it does,” said certified functional safety expert Chris O’Brien.
O’Brien spoke Wednesday during an exida webinar, “Mechanical Product IEC 61508 Certification.” He discussed the certification process for simple mechanical products like valves, actuators, and solenoid valves.
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O’Brien and engineers at exida developed a technique for calculating classified failure rates for electronic and mechanical devices according to the requirements of EN/IEC 61508-2 20 years ago, which was even before 61508 came out.
The tool is FMEDA (Failure Modes Effects and Diagnostic Analysis). It’s a systematic analysis technique to obtain subsystem/product-level failure rates, failure modes, and diagnostic capability.
In the early 2000’s exida concluded products working in safety critical applications had mechanical components and an FMEDA done without considering these mechanical components was incomplete and possibly misleading.
The fundamental problem in using the FMEDA technique was the lack of a mechanical component database that included part failure rates and failure mode distributions.
Using a number of published reference sources, the organization began development of a mechanical component database in 2003. Following several years of research and refinement, they were able to leverage FMEDA for use on combination electrical/mechanical components and purely mechanical components.
According to one of O’Brien’s charts during the webinar, there has been a six-fold increase in the safety certification of products in the last ten years. “We expect that trend to continue,” O’Brien said.
This only illustrates the rush to be compliant with the standard as means of protecting not only the public but also the viability and future of the vendors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and end-users themselves.
IEC 61508 is the international standard for electrical, electronic-and-programmable electronic safety related systems. It sets out the requirements for ensuring that systems are designed, implemented, operated, and maintained to provide the required safety integrity level (SIL).
There are four SILs, which reflect the risks involved in the system application. SIL4 is to protect against the highest risks. The standard specifies a process that we can follow such that information about the system uses common terminology and system parameters.
Click here to listen to Wednesday’s webinar. Specifically, it describes the certification process for simple mechanical products like valves, actuators, or solenoid valves.
Topics include:
• IEC 61508 requirements for these certification projects
• The ability to get random failure rates for each failure mode, proof test coverage, and useful life via the FMEDA technique
• A comparison between “Cycle Test” results and FMEDA results
• There is also a discussion of design process issues and an explanation of user documentation requirements
Engineers who specify valves, actuators, and other mechanical devices for safety functions may find this webinar beneficial as will those interested in IEC 61508 certification for their mechanical products.
Nicholas Sheble (nsheble@isssource.com) is an engineering writer and technical editor in Raleigh, NC.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 @ 04:02 PM gHale
The past two years have been a real wakeup call for the industrial automation industry. For the first time ever there is proof the industry has been the target of sophisticated cyber attacks like Stuxnet, Night Dragon and Duqu.
After the realization of targeted attacks came the next step and that was a huge number of security vulnerabilities exposed in industrial control products and regulatory agencies are demanding compliance to complex and confusing regulations. Cyber security has quickly become a serious issue for professionals in the process and critical infrastructure industries.
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If you are a process control engineer, an IT professional in a company with an automation division, or a business manager responsible for safety or security, you may be wondering how your organization can get moving on more robust cyber security practices.
In order to provide guidance in this area, Eric Byres, chief technology officer at Tofino Security and John Cusimano, director of security at exida, wrote a white paper entitled “7 Steps to ICS and SCADA Security.”
The following is an excerpted version of the paper:
Step 1 – Assess Existing Systems
Your first step is to do a risk assessment to quantify and rank the risks that post a danger to your business. This is necessary so you know how to prioritize your security dollars and efforts. Far too often we see the assessment step skipped and companies throw money into a solution for a minor risk, leaving far more serious risks unaddressed.
While risk assessment might seem daunting, it can be manageable if you adopt a simple, lightweight methodology.
Step 2 – Document Policies and Procedures
We highly recommend organizations develop ICS-specific documents describing company policy, standards and procedures around control system security. These documents should refer back to corporate IT security documents. In our experience, separate ICS security documents greatly benefit those responsible for ICS security, helping them clearly understand their security-related expectations and responsibilities.
You should also become familiar with applicable security regulations and standards for your industry.
Step 3 – Train Personnel & Contractors
Once you have documented your policies and procedures, you need to make sure your staff is aware of them and is following them. An awareness program should be carried out, with the support of senior management, to all applicable employees. Then, you should conduct a training program. We highly recommend a role-based training program for control systems security.
Step 4 – Segment the Control System Network
Network segmentation is the most important tactical step you can take to improve the security of your industrial automation system. The white paper explains the concepts of “zones” and “conduits” and provides a high level network diagram showing them.
Step 5 – Control Access to the System
Once you’ve partitioned your system into security zones, the next step is to control access to the assets within those zones. It is important to provide physical and logical access controls.
Typical physical access controls are fences, locked doors, and locked equipment cabinets. The goal is to limit physical access to critical ICS assets to only those who require it to perform their job.
The same concepts apply to logical access control, including the concept of multiple levels of control and authentication. Once authenticated, users can gain authorization to perform certain functions.
Step 6 – Harden the Components
Hardening the components of your system means locking down the functionality of the various components in your system to prevent unauthorized access or changes, remove unnecessary functions or features, and patch any known vulnerabilities.
This is especially important in modern control systems which utilize extensive commercial off-the-shelf technology. In such systems, it is critical to disable unused functions and to ensure configurable options are set to their most secure settings.
Step 7 – Monitor & Maintain System Security
As an owner or operator of an industrial control system, you must remain vigilant by monitoring and maintaining security throughout the lifecycle of your system. This involves activities such as updating antivirus signatures and installing security patches on Windows servers. It also involves monitoring your system for suspicious activity.
It is important to periodically test and assess your system. Assessments involve periodic audits to verify the system is still configured for optimal security as well as updating security controls to the latest standards and best practices.
Effective ICS and SCADA security is not a one-time project. Rather, it is an ongoing, iterative process. You will need to repeat the 7 steps and update materials and measures as systems, people, business objectives and threats change.
The reward for your hard work will be the knowledge your operation has maximum protection against disruption, safety incidents and business losses from modern cyber security threats.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 @ 04:02 PM gHale
The past two years have been a real wakeup call for the industrial automation industry. For the first time ever there is proof the industry has been the target of sophisticated cyber attacks like Stuxnet, Night Dragon and Duqu.
If you are a process control engineer, an IT professional in a company with an automation division, or a business manager responsible for safety or security, you may be wondering how your organization can get moving on more robust cyber security practices.
In order to provide you with guidance in this area, Eric Byres, chief technology officer at Tofino Security and John Cusimano, director of security at exida, wrote a white paper entitled “7 Steps to ICS and SCADA Security.”