Data Center Automation: Cyber security in Data Centers

A cyber security breach in data centers can bring operations to a halt, leading to serious financial losses. It can also cause harm to workers, equipment and the environment, destruction of data and much more. Luckily, you have a strong partner on your side to protect your control system and IoT infrastructure against potential security threats.

Productivity and processes in modern data centers across the globe depend on sophisticated computer-controlled automation systems that have become so powerful, and so ubiquitous, that they amount to a new industrial revolution -the Internet of Things.

Progress is, however, often accompanied by unintended consequences. In the case of automation, the computers that make your operations smarter also make it more vulnerable to external interference. The risk of infection by a malicious code is one thing--the Stuxnet worm is one memorable example of a virus that targeted industrial control systems--but many day-to-day attacks don’t make the headlines and still cause damage and delay.

As it's our experts who design these cutting-edge control systems, we also know how to make them as resilient as possible. To this end, our experienced team has formulated a set of measures aimed at protecting their reliability, integrity and availability. The general idea is to set up a “defense in depth” strategy in which ABB’s distributed control system, ABB Ability™ System 800xA (the technology that drives the ABB Ability™ Data Center Automation product), plays an important part. 

Webinar, October 27, 2022
Register for ABB’s Cyber Security Risk Assessment webinar

Is your control system protected against increasing cyber risks? - Learn how to identify which parts of your production need attention and stronger protection

Working with data centers across the globe, ABB has found it's never too late to begin implementing a cyber security strategy. It's important to keep systems patched and updated. Monitoring and proactively servicing your network firewalls and malware protection is just as important as servicing your equipment. Thankfully digital technologies give us new tools that also make it easier than ever to collect and analyze security data, and provide you with powerful protection when using our cyber security services.

Article: Security beyond the borders - data center cyber security
 

Our services, delivered through ABB Ability™ Collaborative Operations for data centers.

Patching

All software has vulnerabilities, keep your system up-to-date:
- update operating system software with patches
- update device firmware
- refresh hardware and software as needed
Protection

Implement malware protection with cyber security network management:
- firewalls
- anti-viruses
- whitelisting
Analytics

Security dashboard:
- collect control system security data
- get it analyzed against industry best practices and standards

Automatic updating will relieve you of routine tasks

It is not an easy task being in charge of cyber security. Staying up-to-date with security requirements and defending against cyber threats takes a lot of time and effort. Some tasks must be done on a daily basis, such as updating virus signatures, checking if there are any Windows security patches available, or monitoring and checking backups.

There are many other time-consuming aspects, such as managing remote support access, production of system backups and monitoring of system or application events. Fast and appropriate reactions to cyber threats play a decisive role in system security.

How we can help
ABB validates third-party security patches for your automation systems and enables them shortly after release. These security patches are provided for download at the ABB Security Update Server, which also automatically deploys in the automation system using a remote access platform and the facility security server. ABB can, if requested, activate Microsoft security patches onsite, by rebooting the nodes in a defined cycle that takes the availability requirements of your system into account.

Anti-virus software (blacklisting) can be provided as a basic solution for protecting the system against viruses and malware. As an automation system manufacturer, ABB documents the tested and approved virus protection programs for ABB automation systems. To keep the anti-virus signatures in your control system up-to-date, they are updated and deployed in the facility security server and your control system on a daily basis by the ABB Security Update Server.

This cyber security analytics service is accessed through the service delivery platform - conveniently deployed on any control system at your location. Data from all ABB Cyber Security Services that you use can be viewed through a web-based user interface that is easily accessible by customer or ABB personnel.

References

ABB Ability™ digital services have successfully improved the cyber security of many facilities across the globe.

Many customers have scheduled risk assessments as part of their ongoing annual service agreements, while others have implemented cyber security analytics dashboards to continuously monitor, diagnose and resolve security issues. If you would like to improve your site’s cybersecurity profile, or you would just like to sleep better knowing your site is secure, please let your ABB salesperson know you are interested in ABB Ability™ digital cybersecurity services. 

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