SPRACO8 October   2019 AM3351 , AM3352 , AM3354 , AM3356 , AM3357 , AM3358 , AM3358-EP , AM3359 , AM4372 , AM4376 , AM4377 , AM4378 , AM4379 , AM5746 , AM5748 , AM5749 , AM6546 , AM6548

 

  1.   Programmable Logic Controllers — Security Threats and Solutions
    1.     Trademarks
    2. 1 Introduction
    3. 2 Reinventing the PLC for Industry 4.0
    4. 3 Security implications
      1. 3.1 Threat descriptions and risk assessment
    5. 4 TI security frameworks
    6. 5 TI devices with security enablers
    7. 6 Conclusion
    8. 7 References

3 Security implications

Before looking at the security threats and possible solutions, quickly review how PLCs fit into the factory/Industry 4.0 world. In Figure 2, PLCs are in each element.

fig2.gifFigure 2. Factory floor setting

As factories have evolved, a few trends are worth considering for PLCs in the context of security [2]:

  • Networked environments. In today’s automated factories, PLCs are no longer stand-alone components. They need to interact in real time with each other within different systems in a factory, and potentially with cloud metadata to make control decisions in real time. Network reliability and is a priority.
  • Distributed control. The world has moved from centralized control brains in factories to a more distributed control model of several autonomous subsystem brains, sometimes even within the same machine. This places a premium on real-time communication integrity and network reliability.
  • Deterministic communication. The need to respond to faults or failures, especially in an automated environment, places a premium on communication and processing reliability with low latencies.
  • Minimal downtime. The push to minimize downtime has driven the demand for hot-plug features. A need exists for trust and integrity checks to potentially span multiple sessions, not just within the same session.