Protecting Business Critical Networks
welcome
Hackers are regularly trying to break into the country’s commercial and industrial networks – Lord West of Spithead, UK Security Minister (Aug 2008)
Has your organisation assessed the risks associated with opening up what were once islands of operation, such as process plants, manufacturing sites, distribution centres and remote facilities with office and corporate networks that drive the rest of the business?
Your company has most likely connected the business critical operational systems to the IT infrastructure in order to control resources, improve planning and benefit from enhanced reporting.
ERP systems, management information solutions, quality improvement systems and more all rely on the unhindered flow of information throughout your organisation to make what is happening in the plant and operational areas visible to these systems.
The solutions to protect the PCs in an office environment from destructive and disruptive malicious attacks may not work in a production/operational environment, with production PCs, HMIs and consequently entire control systems all vulnerable once the networks can talk to each other.
However the threat may not be from external sources but may be internal. Mobile devices are in everyone’s possession and corporate networks are connected to partners, suppliers, branch offices and home/mobile workers. Wireless access exists in many area’s of the enterprise so traffic from outside may not even pass through your existing defences.
