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Siemens joins ISCI security compliance institute

Oct. 3, 2007

Siemens added to the parade of large vendors willing to ante up a fair chunk of dollars to help found the ISA Security Compliance Institute, the third party standards compliance project originally conceived by Johann Nye of ExxonMobil. From the release: SIEMENS JOINS ISA SECURITY COMPLIANCE INSTITUTE AS FOUNDING MEMBERATLANTA, Oct. 2, 2007 - Siemens, a worldwide leader in automation, today announced it has joined the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI). As a founding member of the ISCI, Siemens entered into a two-year commitment to provide funds and volunteer time to the institute. Additionally, Siemens will sit as a voting member on the governing board. The members of the institute will work together to develop a set of universal compliance requirements based on ISA99 and other standards. The requirements will help test and certify control systems and products, ultimately establishing an ISASecure designation. This designation will identify and promote security standards compliant products and systems. "Cyber security is one of the most critical issues for our customers in the chemical, oil and gas, and petrochemical industries," says Todd Stauffer, PCS 7 marketing manager, Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc. "The institute is globally recognized and will focus on entire automation systems, not just the components. This international, third party review is a significant step forward.""The formation of a globally recognizable body like ISCI has been a high priority for the end-user, supplier, integrator and government communities," said Andre Ristaino, managing director, ISA Security Compliance Institute. "We are very happy to have Siemens on board and look forward to leveraging its experience and expertise around industrial security."For years, Siemens has focused on Industrial security. It is the only company that develops, manufactures, and produces hardware and software for both factory automation and process automation, as well as for securing industrial networks. In 2004, Siemens established a dedicated security laboratory that tests the latest Microsoft security patches and virus scanner releases. The lab validates and documents secure architectures. It also publishes recommendations and guidelines for securing PCS 7 distributed control systems. Additionally, Siemens is an active, voting member of the ISA99 Committee on industrial security standard development.