Security module launches

Keeping the plant system secure and up and running is a key driver throughout the automation industry and that is why MTL Instruments and Byres Security Inc. today launched at 2008 ABB Automation World Conference & Exhibition in Houston a loadable security module (LSM) for the Tofino Industrial Security Solution that discovers and identifies what devices are on the network and creates the firewall rules to control the traffic flowing to them.
Called the Tofino Secure Asset Management module, it locates devices and generates rules simply by analyzing the traffic on the network.
Asset management tools in the IT world have been available for over a decade, but all are based on the principle of sending probing messages onto the network to discover what is out there. The problem is there have been cases where these types of messages have caused SCADA and process control systems to crash.
The difference with this product is the module does not probe control devices. Rather, it listens for traffic and then uses special characterization techniques to determine the types of control devices on the network. When it discovers a new device, it prompts the system administrator to either accept its deductions and insert the new device into the network inventory diagram, or flag the device as a potential intruder.