"The real message with IP Advantage is that this is the standard approach across all of industry, and users and potential users can trust that they have a future path to the levels of security they need." Panduit's Dan McGrath on how users can leverage the enormous cyber security investments the broader IT world is making in standard, unmodified IP-based networks.
Many of these "things" already operate in the production facility. Today, IP-enabled microprocessors—the brains inside digital devices—connect conventional automation equipment such as I/O modules and variable-frequency drives. But the explosive growth of other IP-enabled digital devices—many adopted from other disciplines—is transforming the industrial landscape. Video cameras, RFID readers, digital tablets, security swipe cards: These open-standard, IP-enabled devices help manufacturing and process operations reach new heights of production quality, efficiency, security and safety. To take full advantage of this intelligence, all devices within a plant need to talk with one another, as well as those at the enterprise level, using a unified networking infrastructure that is IP-centric.
"So this Industrial IP initiative takes our companies' collective core skill sets and market leadership to build a community to give information, training and thought leadership in how to obtain some of the value that we're promoting," Davenport added.
So why is Internet Protocol important here? "The key enabler for this Internet of Things movement is Internet Protocol," said Paul Brooks, business development manager, Rockwell Automation. "It's the technology that allows the Internet to be scalable, to be routable."
"And today, EtherNet/IP is the only industrial automation protocol that can claim to be part of that Internet of Things because it uses IP for all of its primary functions, from motion through information gathering and historization," Brooks added. "That commitment to IP means that EtherNet/IP is highly scalable, and it's able to take part in a converged network architecture, which is critical for cost-effective deployment. It's also highly segmentable, meaning it's easy to add new things to networks that use EtherNet/IP."
Brooks continued, "Keep in mind that many of the individual innovations that are going to happen within the Internet of Things aren't going to be able to justify investment in new infrastructure. Many new innovations will be an incremental application added to an existing infrastructure. An IP-centric infrastructure is therefore essential."
Leverage Standard IT Security Technology
"The number of connected devices across a plant floor, connected people via mobile devices, together with devices and systems outside the plant floor create the potential for value creation, but also present a big concern when it comes to hackers, security of intellectual property and downtime," said Dan McGrath, industrial automation solutions manager, Panduit. The great potential value is threatened if you don't have a comprehensive ‘defense-in-depth' layered approach to security, McGrath said. "This is where IP shines. It's a technology platform where every year there's a big investment in improving security."
The Industrial IP Advantage booth at Automation Fair included an infographic that demonstrated how $1.72 billion was spent in 2012 on delivering IP-based industrial security solutions. "So IP and standard, unmodified industrial Ethernet has the widest availability of the tools to provide that defense in depth," McGrath added.
This defense-in-depth layering includes physical security measures such as blocked ports and key cards; the network layer of firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, switches and routers; computer hardening via antivirus software, application whitelisting and removal of unused applications; application security with comprehensive authentication and authorization; and device hardening with change management and restrictive access.
"The real message with IP Advantage is that this is the standard approach across all of industry, and users and potential users can trust that they have a future path to the levels of security they need," McGrath explained.
This approach also has great potential to bridge the technology and philosophy gaps that traditionally existed between the IT groups and the control system engineers. "The ability for IT to use commons tools and proven strategies from the IT side and bring them to bear on the automation side can't be underestimated," McGrath explained.
To learn more, visit www.industrial-ip.org.