Intermediary Security Enforcement for Legacy Industrial Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems with legacy devices lacking modern security features are vulnerable to attacks from malicious entities due to unmonitored data traffic, leading to potential security issues such as unauthorized access, loss of control, and system shutdown.
Innovation Solution
A security device that automatically discovers capabilities and attributes of industrial automation devices, implementing security techniques like data packet filtering, cryptographically signing, and generating alerts based on communication protocols, and updates itself to handle new protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If legacy industrial automation devices are used without native security features, then device compatibility and system legacy support are maintained, but security vulnerability increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary security device that positions itself between legacy industrial automation devices and the network/external entities. This security device monitors, filters, and secures data traffic without requiring modifications to the legacy devices themselves, thus maintaining compatibility while eliminating security vulnerabilities through external security enforcement
2Reliability
If security monitoring is implemented for all data traffic, then security detection capability improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the security monitoring function into a dedicated security device separate from the operational automation devices. This segmentation allows comprehensive security monitoring to be implemented without complicating the operational devices, as the security functions are isolated in a specialized component that handles only security-related tasks
3Productivity
If automatic security enforcement is implemented, then security response time improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The security device is designed with automatic detection and enforcement capabilities that operate without human intervention. It automatically monitors data traffic, detects security threats, and enforces security policies in real-time, providing rapid security response while the automation of these functions manages the complexity within the security device itself
Data Source
AI summary
A security device includes one or more processors and a memory that includes instructions, that when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform operations. The operations include monitoring data traffic between industrial automation devices in an industrial system and one or more devices in an external network, determining that a first industrial automation device does not include native security features for receiving secure data from the devices in the external network or transmitting secure data to the devices in the external network, and implementing one or more security techniques in response to determining that the first industrial automation device does not include the native security features.