Dissecting Stuxnet. How it works with PLCs and VFDs.

Eaton's SmartWire-DT came from its European business. Here's the original promotional video for German-speakers.

Post 2010, after the infamous Stuxnet attack in Iran, cyber threats have gained considerable attention from all sections of the industry, from automation and device vendors at the plant-floor to management personnel in boardrooms.

The need for implementing security initiatives is increasingly becoming a regulatory compulsion. A practical projection of current trends indicate that regulations and standards governing cyber security is likely to surge in future, reflecting the urgency and opportunity for automation vendors to invest in this emerging market space.

This briefing will try to understand:

• the history of cyber threats
• significance to automation vendors
• contemporary security initiatives

It will provide automation vendors with an insight into some of the popular industrial perceptions towards cyber security, offering viable recommendations for security initiatives in future enterprises.

WHEN: 16 May 2012 at 2pm BST

WHERE: Online, with free registration

For more information, and to register online go to: http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/analyst-briefing-detail.pag?mode=open&sid=259433753

How to map devices in Modbus

How to map devices in Modbus

The Sercos International user organization announced at Hannover Fair that it will soon release a powerful diagnostic tool for Sercos III automation bus networks and offer it as a free download on the Sercos websites. The diagnostic tool allows a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the data traffic in Sercos III networks.

The Sercos Monitor supports the Windows XP and Windows 7 operating systems and is based on the WinPcap interface. The tool allows both retroactive evaluation of stored network records in the pcap file format and an analysis of the network traffic in real time. A user-friendly interface plus overview functions for the typical features of a Sercos III network, such as topology, communications phases and service channel transmission, enable a fast and targeted launch of the analysis process. Experienced users are additionally provided with comprehensive protocol and analysis functions. Different views and filter mechanisms allow the customized evaluation of Sercos III real time telegrams and other Ethernet telegrams based on the individual requirements of the user. Users can add additional functions to the Sercos Monitor via user-specific plug-ins, if needed.

The Sercos Monitor was developed by Steinbeis Transferzentrum Systemtechnik in Esslingen, Germany, in cooperation with numerous providers and users from the Sercos community. Prof. Reinhard Keller, Director of Steinbeis-Transferzentrum Systemtechnik, explains: “The Sercos Monitor supports the users of a Sercos III network in various ways. Service staff and system integrators can utilize a great number of tailor-made functions. The tool not only provides detailed information about the data that is exchanged within the network, but also presents it to the user in clearly structured and easily comprehensible units. This greatly facilitates troubleshooting in Sercos III networks.”

The first practical results of the machinery initiative, which was launched jointly by Sercos International, ODVA, and OPC Foundation in April 2011, were announced at the 2012 Hannover trade fair.

“We are convinced that today's great variety of automation technology requires a new conceptual approach to simplify integration of machinery in manufacturing,” said Peter Lutz, Managing Director of Sercos international. “For this reason, we have cooperated with ODVA and the OPC Foundation in identifying topics that result in considerable technical and market synergies for users and providers.”

Specifically, the deliberations focused on how to implement a joint network infrastructure in which the different network protocols can coexist and the devices of different manufacturers can be operated together. This approach is intended to support mechanical engineers and users in reducing the complexity and costs of device integration in machines and systems. It also enables mechanical engineers and users to select preferred product providers and to utilize their devices.

Because the infrastructure required for EtherNet/IP and Sercos III includes the physics and data link layers of Ethernet, Sercos telegrams, CIP messages and TCP/IP messages can coexist within a network without requiring additional cables. To keep the cyclical and clocked communication of Sercos III intact, the CIP messages and TCP/IP messages are transmitted in the Unified Communication Channel (UCC). This channel sits directly on the Ethernet layer without tunneling, allowing the connection of users who do not have Sercos III, but instead support a different Ethernet-based protocol.

This approach allows the combination of Sercos III devices, EtherNet/IP devices and other Ethernet devices in a joint network infrastructure in a machine or system. The existing Sercos III and EtherNet/IP specifications do not have to be modified, as the respective communication mechanisms have already been integrated in the Sercos III transmission process.

By late 2012, the providers aim to create an implementation guide that describes the planning and set-up of such multi-protocol networks. Initial prototypes are expected to be presented at the SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2012 show as a demo system.

The Sercos vendor organizations have released an update to the specification for the Sercos III Real-time Ethernet solution.

The V1.3 specification broadens the functionality and the range of applications of the international Sercos real-time standard, while considering new trends in machine and plant construction. The extensions are fully compatible with the existing specification so that the high level of standardization and the best possible interoperability of devices from different manufacturers can be ensured.

Following the lead of electronic drives, hydraulics and pneumatics are turning more and more towards digitally controlled modules. This increases flexibility and shifts tasks previously solved by mechanical means to software solutions. The Sercos organization recognizes the importance of this trend and has extended the existing Sercos drive profile such that electric, hydraulic and pneumatic drives now are supported across different technologies.

Two new profiles have been added to the Sercos specification. The energy profile defines parameters and commands for the reduction of the energy consumption in a uniform and vendor-independent manner. An encoder profile makes the interface of absolute and incremental encoders available to all devices on a Sercos network.

The following new services are specified at the protocol level: oversampling and time-stamping. The oversampling procedure allows the acquisition and transmission of equidistant values faster than the configured bus or connection cycle. This increases the process control intricacy in extremely time-critical applications, such as laser applications, because it allows more data to be collected and command values to be communicated at a faster speed. Measurement methods are integrated directly into the protocol, thereby making it possible to access these mechanisms across different manufacturers and independently of the product.

In addition, the specification defines a time-stamping procedure for the event-triggered acquisition of values with corresponding time stamps, as well as the time-triggered activation of command values. This function is event-controlled, promptly transmitting defined events such as certain measurement values to the controller and switching outputs independently from the clock cycle. This increases process stability in complex solutions such as those needed in semiconductor or solar manufacturing.

The specification update is completed by an installation guide that specifies cabling with copper wire and optical fiber, each in consideration of IP20 and IP65/67 protection classes.

SErial Realtime COmmunication System, in short Sercos, is among the leading digital interfaces for communication between controls, drives and decentralized peripheral devices. Sercos has been used in machine engineering for more than 25 years and is implemented in over 3 million real time nodes. With its Ethernet-based open, manufacturer independent architecture, Sercos III is a universal bus for all automation solutions.

For additional information, please visit www.sercos.com or www.sercos.de/en.

Engineers and executives planning to attend the Sensors Expo & Conference will have the opportunity to hear from Assaf Biderman who is currently teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the Associate Director of SENSEable City Laboratory - a research group that explores the "real-time city" by studying the increasing deployment of sensors and networked hand-held electronics, as well as their relationship to the built environment. Biderman will deliver the keynote presentation "A Human-Computer-City Interface" on Wednesday, June 6 at 9 am.

In this keynote, Assaf Biderman will present a view of the role sensors and other data capturing methods can play in making new connections between people and the built environment as a way to address some of todays more pressing urban challenges. The presentation will focus on how cities are facing unparalleled opportunities now that distributed digital technologies like sensing, microprocessors, and network connectivity are becoming an integral part of the built environment. This new condition allows individuals to monitor the city and make smarter decisions as they move around, consume, and interact with the urban environment. We can view this as a new type of human-computer-city interface, through which individuals and organizations can create and connect with new urban services, and which opens multiple avenues for innovation to make its way into our cities. With the global move toward urbanization, and given the challenges that cities face-environmental impact, energy consumption, transportation-such opportunities have become particularly relevant.

The Expo Hall, featuring leading hundreds of vendors showcasing the latest sensing technologies and systems, will be open on Wednesday, June 6 from 10 am - 5 pm and on Thursday, June 7 from 10 am - 3 pm. Conference sessions will run from 10 am - 4 pm both days with keynote presentations starting at 9:00 am. The event will take place at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, Illinois. Registration is open at www.sensorsexpo.com and packages are available at low early bird rates for a limited time.

Use of Ethernet-based technologies in industrial communications will grow faster than use of fieldbus, especially in the Asia-Pacific region; according to IMS Research. This is largely driven by the need to improve efficiency as currency and wage pressures sound warning bells, threatening the cost advantage that has fueled the meteoric growth of manufacturing in the region. The company says that  worldwide growth in the installation of new Ethernet based nodes was forecast to be 13% CAGR from 2010 to 2015; regional growth rates were 11% in EMEA, 10.4% in the Americas, 18.6% in Asia Pacific.

John Morse, company representative, said “...the rate of growth seems to be gathering pace in the recovery from the 2008/9 recession. The Asia-Pacific growth rate is high despite the pressure on local manufacturing costs from increasing wages in the growing economies of Asia, most notably China. In addition, the demand for products from both America and Europe is currently slowing, adding an additional threat to the economies of scale needed to maintain profitability.”

Morse added “The market in Japan is somewhat different and has been much slower to adopt Ethernet-based communication technologies in industry. Even there, this is changing with the introduction of CC-Link IE, a Gigabit technology form Mitsubishi Electric; and with extensive promotion by other organizations including ODVA and Profibus International promoting Ethernet/IP and PROFINET respectively”.