Tofino Xenon for the energy sector

July 2016, Fieldbus & Industrial Networking

Belden has announced that the Tofino Xenon Industrial Security Appliance now supports two of the most widely used energy-specific communication protocols. This new solution reduces the time and resources required to protect energy power generation and transmission substations from cyber security threats.

The unit provides an advanced industrial solution that solves many of the most challenging energy-specific cyber and physical security challenges. The easy-to-deploy appliance protects against malicious and unauthorised access, improves scada system reliability, provides greater security control for ICS devices, and supports more industrial protocols than many other devices available. It meets security standards from the International Society of Automation’s (ISA) IEC-62443 program, as well as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) requirements, version five and the new version six standards. It also meets the Department of Homeland Security’s directive to isolate mission-critical systems so that unsafe network protocols are not allowed.

“Protecting the critical infrastructure that drives our nation’s substations and power generation systems requires an industrial-focused solution,” said Rekha Shenoy, vice president and general manager of cyber security for Belden. “Belden is uniquely positioned to deliver cyber security solutions designed to address the requirements of special purpose networks in the energy industry.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the cyber attacks against the energy sector are increasing. ICS-CERT has found that more of these attacks are making it through to the control layer of energy networks. Attacks against the control layer can allow attackers to compromise the reliability, availability and safety of mission-critical infrastructure. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) standard is being used to protect IT systems on energy sector networks. However, the power generation and transmission substations on special purpose networks require a purpose-built cyber security solution.

The Tofino Xenon Industrial Security Appliance is a versatile rugged device that ensures maximum data protection for production energy systems as part of a defence in-depth strategy. The appliance is ideal for control professionals because it is designed to be installed in a live network with:

• No pre-configuration.

• No network changes.

• No plant downtime.

In addition, the solution is easy for operations and maintenance staff to install and operate; no specialised information technology training is required.

This release of the Tofino Xenon Industrial Security Appliance is part of Belden’s cyber security initiative. The initiative brings together three trusted Belden brands – Tripwire, Tofino Security and GarrettCom – to form comprehensive industrial cyber security solutions. These solutions will eventually encompass all Belden brands and deliver solutions designed to protect all layers of industrial systems, including networks, controllers and endpoints.

For more information contact Fons de Leeuw, Profitek, +27 (0)12 345 6544, sales@profiteksa.com.