NIS 2

Alarms and plant control / SCADA / MES in the era of NIS 2!

Operators of essential services are private or public entities with branches in Austria that provide a significant service in one of the sectors specified in the NIS Act. Examples include water, energy, and other essential goods that are produced.

Further details can be found at: https://www.nis.gv.at/

What steps are necessary to make SCADA systems or alerting NIS compliant, and what are the minimum required risk management measures?

• Risk analysis and security concepts for information systems
• Incident response
• Business continuity and crisis management
• Supply chain security
• Security measures for the acquisition, development, and maintenance of ICT
• Concepts and procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of risk management measures
• Cyber ​​hygiene and cybersecurity training
• Cryptography and, where applicable, encryption
• Personnel security
• Access control concepts
• Multi-factor authentication

Specific relevant measures for the SCADA system and alerting include encryption, access concepts and controls, and multi-factor authentication.

Example implementation with Ignition:

• Central gateway with 2FA that establishes a connection to PLCs via firewalls (segmentation)
• Gateway connections with Microsoft Active Directory
• Access only via username or password with enabled 2FA (two-factor authentication)

For general NIS-compliant remote maintenance, secure access can be established using SINEMA Remote Connect and SCALANCE industrial routers or industrial security appliances.

Your advantages:

• Central management of all VPN connections
• Easy management of multiple users
• Address book function in the SINEMA RC Client for quick and easy connection to machines via SINEMA Remote Connect
• Easy integration of SCALANCE industrial routers and industrial security appliances through auto-configuration
• Connectivity via 4G, 5G, and DSL networks
• Optimal connection and easy selection of identical machines in series production and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) environments
• Integrated security mechanisms (e.g., VPN, firewall)
• User-specific access to designated IP addresses within the subnet (Dedicated Device Access)
• Protocol-independent, IP-based communication
• No special IT expertise required for remote access
• Two-factor authentication
• Connection of the SINEMA RC Server to Active Directory (AD)

The SINEMA RC Server can be operated as follows:

• On-premise (therefore no ongoing costs)
• In the cloud (AWS, Azure, etc.) as SaaS

You Want to know more?

Ask about the Ignition Alarm NIS 2.0 with control data package.

Ask about the SINEMA Remote Connect NIS 2.0 complete package.