Software from Kaspersky Lab and Schneider Electric has been through a series of rigorous compatibility tests to help protect industrial environments worldwide from the increasing danger of cyberattacks
Software from Kaspersky Lab and Schneider Electric has been through a series of rigorous compatibility tests to help protect industrial environments worldwide from the increasing danger of cyberattacks. Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity has been found fully compatible with Schneider Electric SCADA and process control systems software, and can now be used in different industrial facilities running Schneider Electric software, with strict requirements for cybersecurity.
Highly automated manufacturing processes at industrial facilities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks – particularly because 92% of industrial control system (ICS) devices use open and insecure Internet connection protocols[1]. But at the same time, stability is a highly crucial factor for ICS organizations. Software in these environments should therefore be able to run smoothly without causing any interruptions to industrial processes. These are the challenges faced by modern day industrial environments.
To address these challenges, and to help protect industrial environments from cyberattacks, Kaspersky Lab and Schneider Electric have conducted a series of tests designed to check the compatibility and performance of Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity with the process control systems of several Schneider Electric platforms. Test rigs included different scenarios that industrial facilities operators use on a daily basis.
Working on an engineering workstation running Schneider Electric SCADA software, Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity was tested under several scenarios of attacks. These included an ‘adversary’ trying to encrypt files, obtain application launch control, device control, execute malware and more.
After several stages of testing, the KICS software had no impact on Schneider Electric process controls and was working smoothly in close-to-real environments without affecting HMI software and PLCs’ hardware performance. Crucially, the KICS software was also protecting the trial industrial environments from malicious actions. The tests demonstrated KICS’s compatibility with, and ability to protect, Schneider Electric Citect SCADA, ClearSCADA, Unity Pro engineering software, Software and Technical Complex EMCS-PACiS and showed it is appropriate for onsite deployment in industrial environments.
“Ensuring the protection of industrial environments has proved to be extremely difficult, both technically and organizationally, given that management software performance cannot be slowed or negatively affected,” said Andrey Suvorov, Head of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Kaspersky Lab. “The results of our compatibility tests with Schneider Electric show that now it’s possible to gain the highest level of protection without sacrificing industrial management software performance.”
More details about Kaspersky Industrial Cybersecurity are available on Kaspersky Lab’s website.
1 According to Kaspersky Lab research based on Shodan data