OPC Firewall shipping

Earlier this month we reported on Byres Security's Tofino OPC Enforcer, a rather revolutionary firewall technology. This is now available and shipping. This new module is designed specifically to secure industrial systems using OPC Classic.

OPC Classic (i.e. all OPC variations other than OPC-UA) is the world’s most widely used industrial integration protocol. Unfortunately, it is also famous for being very difficult to secure.

The Tofino OPC Enforcer radically changes the OPC security landscape because:

• It is the first ever industrial firewall for managing OPC traffic. Unlike other firewalls, this product inspects, tracks and secures every connection made by an OPC application, opening only the exact TCP port required for a connection between an OPC client and server.
  
• It is implemented without requiring any changes to the control system. The Tofino hardware is simply installed into the live network and configured using a drag and drop editor to select permitted clients and servers. Once installed, network security is assured, with all OPC traffic managed behind the scenes.

They have also published an OPC Feature Page, which is a hub of information on OPC and security, and includes a link to download a new White Paper titled “Securing Your OPC Classic Control System” written by me and Thomas J. Burke, the President of the OPC Foundation.