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Is Industrial Wireless Technology Dependable for Your Operations?

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Wireless technology is entwined with daily life. Chances are, you’re reading this very post on a smartphone, laptop or tablet connected to Wi-Fi, right? Before that, you likely perrused your email, favourite news sites or other sources of information without giving a second thought.

The days of landlines and DSL have mostly faded from our daily lives.

If you are reading this in an office setting – on a desktop computer or a docked laptop – you are still “plugged-in” to a wired internet connection.

In an age where you can turn your home thermostat up while you’re sitting kilometres away in your office, why are businesses so reluctant to take advantage of these advances, especially in industrial settings?

Often, it comes down to one thing: reliability.

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U.S. Water Utility Rupture and ICS Cyber Security Lessons Acquired

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Industrial control systems (ICS) are the workhorses of our world, and becoming more internet-connected, more virtualized in most cases, and remotely more accessible by the day. Gartner Research indicates 5.5 million devices were added per day in 2016, a pace that excellerates to an estimated 21+ billion internet-connected “things” running our world by 2020.

Security experts worry that the increase dependence on internet-connected devices is outpacing our ability to seal them. This is especially true within industrial and critical infrastructure because cyber threats could result in physical disruption, loss of availability and even risk to public safety.

Many ICS professionals continue to feel that the actual danger to plant operations and industrial automation are minimal given highly purpose-built industrial equipment, specialized communications protocols, air gaps and unique automation systems and processes. Unfortunately, that’s not what the data shows.

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The Unsung Hero of Rail Communication – Industrial Cable

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The transportation industry, unlike several other critical industrial operations, has the unique position of directly engaging with its passengers and keeping them happy and safe. Any delays in a transportation system not only lead to lost revenue but also a trickle-down effect of annoyed commuters, who can choose to spend their transportation budget someplace else.

Having nightmares about train delays, safety issues or interrupted passenger services? Customers are easily annoyed by issues, like inaccurate travel information, missed connections or lack of Wi-Fi.

Unless you oversee the overall operations of a railway system or you’re in charge of specifying a new or upgraded application– the reliability of the railway communication network rests on your shoulders. No matter your function in building out a proper Ethernet network, it can be easy to fall into the trap of focusing your attention on the “glossy” or more exciting components, like switches and routers. The duty those devices play can be exciting to discuss and debate – trust us, we get it!

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Machine Building & The IIoT

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The IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) is disrupting the manufacturing industry in eliminating rigid structures of production facilities and replacing them with flexible, networked production facilities.

What does this mean for machine builders?

Find out in this blog post, where I share my answers to a few questions about how Belden helped German-based machine builder Erhardt + Abt take advantage of the IIoT by creating an intelligent robot system.

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Take a Self-Assessment for ICS Cyber Security Risk

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Here’s the situation – industrial security is a hot topic today and management has decided to assign you the task to assess and come up with an action plan to protect the company from… well, they didn’t specify.

Perhaps some budget support has been provided for this task and perhaps not. Regardless of budget, it is understood that the priority is to keep production running while you put your plan into action.

Doing Nothing? Not an Option

Try the following industrial security self-assessment as a start for cyber security risk at your organization. While it isn’t for everyone, it’s a great starting point for your business. Taking action here may just help your company avoid some serious security incidents.

  1. Determine Who Should Help with the Assessment
  2. Identify the Critical Assets
  3. Prioritize and List the Largest Risks for Each Asset
  4. Prioritize the List of Industrial Security Assets
  5. Determine and Rate Existing Protection Measures

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Designing Machines for Global Use

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Requirements for Machine builders today need to meet the demands of many diverse customers across the globe. And, since these clients usually prefer to use a specific industrial protocol, machine builders’ machines must adapt accordingly.

To make machine building easier, Belden’s Lumberg Automation brand developed the first multiprotocol I/O solution with M12 power (L-coded) connectors.

In this blog post, we share answers to a few questions about how Belden assisted one of its customers to easily meet global standards.

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An Elephant in the Industrial Control Room?

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There is an elephant in industrial infrastructure control room. Most of the equipment within the US infrastructure sectors is at risk of aging out, currently requiring replacement and upgrades, yet still in production use.

Which means industrial networks, endpoints, control systems and other types of specialized systems and production equipment across many industries are in drastic need of replacement or upgrade.  For water and wastewater treatment facilities, the useful life of system components is estimated to be 15-95 years old according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and their report “Failure to Act – The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Water and Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure”

Many of the components were installed in the 1950s for most major cities, years before today’s modern networks, technical advances, application architecture, industrial protocols, cyber security risks, compliance requirements, safety regulations and other factors applied.

Subsequently, It was no surprise when, in 2012, a large, growing California metropolis proposed funding for a new power generation and water treatment plant to increase capacity and replace its aging infrastructure

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F1 Racing Details a Real-Life Example of the IIoT

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During an F1 race sensors in the car constantly communicate with the track, the pit crew, a team of engineers and the onsite broadcast crew. The immense volume of real-time data is put into predictive intelligence models and used for race strategy and car servicing. Data analysis and two-way communication happen simultaneously to create a competitive edge that can turn a losing car into a winner.

In many ways, the factory floor or industrial facility is like an F1 race car. Hundreds of sensors and machines generate more and more data. If you could input this data to the right decision-makers in a timely and easily decipherable way, how could your business be transformed? Could you improve reliability, efficiency, safety and production?

Some F1 teams are already transferring their knowledge to other industries. For example, Conoco Philips is testing this approach on oil rigs with assistance from the British automaker McLaren.

Five Ways to Move Forward on the IIoT

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) enables the connectivity that allows businesses to gather greater insights and make data-driven decisions to achieve greater results. Though we don’t know all the applications that our businesses will build on the IIoT, there are two things we do know for certain:

  • More and more devices will connect to our industrial networks.
  • More and more data will cross the network to feed business applications and provide finer-grained control.

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ICS “Subversive Six” – the unseen risks within industrial infrastructures

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Sean McBride aka self-described “Mr. Potatohead” delivered a keynote address at Belden’s annual Industrial Ethernet Infrastructure Design Seminar (IEIDS).

Sean is the lead analyst for critical infrastructure at iSight, specializing in securing industrial control systems (ICS) and operations environments.

Sean gave an excellent keynote drawn both his life experiences in the Idaho potato industry, and from his years in forensic and analyst work to help secure critical infrastructure and industrial control systems.

Sean masterfully wove his talk from the fields of Idaho to the control floor of industrial businesses. Speaking from experience, he highlighted the potentially “unseen” risks within potato farming and harvesting processes

  • Unauthenticated protocols
  • Outdated Hardware
  • Weak Password Management
  • Weak File Integrity Checks
  • Vulnerable Windows Operating Systems
  • Undocumented Third Party Relationships

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Consequences of Using the Wrong Cable in Your Industrial Application

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Many manufacturers often try to save money by purchasing cabling products with a minimal up-front cost (and less features) and simply don’t meet the requirements of the application. In the end, this can result in an unwanted expensive mistake.

While savings on the front-end are tempting, there are many ways that the wrong cables can end up costing you much more in the long term. How? These cables simply cannot withstand the environmental conditions they face each day.

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