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Netherlands ICS Cyberhorror @Hulsebos #SCADA #mfg #pauto #security #manufacuring

waltboyes — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:01:50 -0800

Im hijacking Joe's blog for a post of my own.

With a hat tip to Byres Security division of Hirschman/Belden, here's a link to a very good article by Rob Hulsebos, a recognized industrial networking expert who happens to live in The Netherlands.

http://www.tofinosecurity.com/blog/cyber-security-nightmare-netherlands

Some comments.

Business Process Management vs. Operations Process Management

cgifford — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:09:34 -0800

To date, many corporate IT and business people have never recognized the critical requirement that business process management (BPM) and especially operations process management (OPM) for real-time work process sequencing must have a semantic manufacturing data model to aggregate master data and instance data from level 2 to 3 to 4 and back. IBM has actually come out and stated that their BPM, enterprise asset management, data warehouse and BI implementations have failed without a manufactuuring information model at the integration level to rationalize and structure data definition.

How valuable is the ICS-CERT? Is it focused on the right issues?

jweiss — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:09:30 -0800

A control system is generally composed of a human-machine interface (HMI) that is often a Windows-based system and field controllers. The HMI is essentially an IT system with IT vulnerabilities. The field controllers generally use proprietary real time operating systems or embedded processors. Field controllers generally have minimal cyber security and minimal cyber

The Truth about @STEM from a guy who knows #pauto #NCLB #automation #education #mfg #manufacturing

waltboyes — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:06:46 -0800

Today I received a very thoughtful response to my February Editorial http://www.controlglobal.com/articles/2012/american-manufacturing-we-get-what-we-deserve.html from a gentleman named Elwood Bredehoeft, a 9-12 High School teacher.

@ABB joins the good results parade for another quarter #pauto #automation #mfg #manufacturing

waltboyes — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:11:50 -0800

ABB has joined the parade of companies with good results quarter on quarter. This quarterly result not quite so good as the record quarters for the past two years, but, hey, what's a million dollars, anyway?

No wonder they felt they could easily afford Thomas and Betts and some of their other recent acquisitions.

Money cannot buy happiness, but it sure makes it easier.

Here's the text of ABB's press release:

ABB reports solid fourth quarter performance, 2011 net income up 24%

ISA sets up two new classes of membership @ISA #pauto #automation #isa #mfg #automation

waltboyes — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:02:42 -0800

After much arguing and many people like me pushing them to do something, anything to make themselves more relevant, ISA has taken the first baby steps in that direction. They still have to figure out what real value added member benefits are, instead of the list they keep blathering on about, but they've at least moved off top dead center.

Congratulations to all the ISA volunteers who participated in rolling this particular rock uphill. It appears it wasn't a Sysyphean task after all.

Here's the text of the announcement:

New Security System Survey

nbartels — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:59:26 -0800

This news release just crossed my desk. Might be worth your time to fill this out.

SECURITY INCIDENTS ORGANIZATION CONDUCTING FIRST CONTROL SYSTEM SECURITY BENCHMARK SURVEY

SELLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Security Incidents Organization will conduct its first control system security benchmark survey beginning Wednesday, February 15, 2012. The information gathered from the survey will help the automation industry better understand the present state of control system security in industrial facilities.

Take the @SecurityIncidentsOrg survey on cybersecurity in control systems #pauto #cybersecurity #mfg #manufacturing

waltboyes — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:57:19 -0800

Full disclosure: I am a member of the RISI Advisory Board. I do strongly urge you, if you are involved with industrial control systems at all, to take this survey.

Charlie Gifford Is Back

cgifford — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:36:08 -0800

Hello All, I am back to actively driving the discussion in this blog. I have been riding the waves of the global economic crisis by working and teaching all over the world over the last 3 years. The net of this time was a lot of hard work. As the Chair of the ISA-95 Best Practices Book and Contributing Chief Editor of, When Worlds Collide in Manufacturing Operations: ISA-95 Best Practices Book 2.0, I was awarded in October the "Thomas G.

What is more important - cyber vulnerabilities or actual cyber incidents?

jweiss — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:30:47 -0800

The recent S4 Conference has shone a light on the cyber vulnerabilities of many industrial
controllers. The vulnerabilities identified are generally textbook IT vulnerabilities - use of weak passwords, use of Telnet, cross-site scripting weaknesses, buffer overflows, etc. To at least